Nazareth is Joseph and Theotokos’ birthplace and the small village where Jesus lived in his childhood. It used to be a small village with few inhabitants but it became a holy shrine after the 4th century with the spreading of Christianity. During the Byzantine years there were churches or chapels over four holy shrines: The Spring of the Annunciation, Joseph’s cave – workshop, the synagogue in which Christ preached and the cliff over which the Jews wanted to kill Christ (Luke 4:29). These shrines are preserved to this day.
At the Annunciation Spring there is the Greek Orthodox Church of Archangel Gabriel, while at the synagogue of Nazareth there is the Greek-Catholic church-synagogue. At the site where Theotokos’ house and Joseph’s workshop used to be, there is the impressive Latin Church of the Annunciation where the pilgrim can see Byzantine artefacts. A chapel at the site of the Cliff hosts in its premises the ruins of an older Byzantine church and monastery.
