We left our kibbutz on this morning and drove to Capernaum (Kfar Nahum) on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. It’s an ancient Roman fishing village inhabited from the 2nd century BC to the 11th century AD when it was abandoned before the First Crusade. Archeological excavations have revealed two ancient synagogues, built one over the other. Our guide said that it must have been a wealthy community because the limestone used to build the synagogues is not found here.

Jesus came to Capernaum to start his preaching. It was a much bigger town than Nazareth. (like 1,500 compared to 200 people), plus it was doubtful that anyone Jesus grew up with in Nazareth was going to buy into his preaching. Peter lived in Capernaum and Andrew, James, and John lived nearby here. A 1968 excavation led to the discovery of a 1st century house that is believed by Christians to be the home of Saint Peter.

The first photo shows a bit of the excavations in Capernaum.

This is the remains of the second synagogue, built upon the first synagogue. Our guide, Noa, is in the photo while Vicky and others are sitting in the shade to the far right.

The Byzantines turned a house into a church and the house is believed to have been Saint Peter’s house. That church has been replaced by a modern church which you can see in the next photo. St Peter’s house is under the glass in the center of the church. Our group sang “Amazing Grace” in this church and the acoustics were really great.

This is a look down at the remains of Saint Peter’s house, per the Christians belief.

This view is from the edge of St Peter’s house looking out to the Sea of Galilee. It was about sixty yards to the Sea.