ISRAEL-JORDAN. LOOKING FOR THE CULTURE AND RELIGION

ISRAEL-JORDAN. LOOKING FOR THE CULTURE AND RELIGION

NAZARETH · CANA OF GALILEE · MOUNT OF BEATITUDES · TABGHA · CAPERNAUM · THE SEA OF GENEZARETH · TIBERIADA · JERASH · AMMAN · MOUNT NEBO · MADABA PETRA · WADI RUM · THE RED SEA · EILAT · EIN BOKEK · JERUSALEM · BETHLEHEM · JERICHO · MASADA · PN EN GEDI · EIN KAREM · TEL AVIV · THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

DAY 1

Arrival in Israel at the Ben Guoriona airport. Drive to Nazareth and visit the Basilica of the Annunciation, along with the Annunciation Grotto. We will see the St Joseph Church, where the house of the Holy Family used to be. This is where Jesus lived up to the age of thirty. Transfer to the Cana of Galilee, the place where Jesus performed his first miracle. Dinner and overnight.

DAY 2

Breakfast. Head over to the Mount of Beatitudes. We continue with a visit to Tabgha and the church of Primacy, built at the harbor from the roman times – this is where Jesus appeared to the apostoles after his resurrection and prepared breakfast. Then onto the visit to the Church of Mutliplication – where Jesus fed fife thousand men, excluding women and children. In Capernaum there will be an opportunity to see the house of St Peter, situated under the octagonal church and the rouins of a synagogue, whose black rock fundaments, remember the visittation of Jesus in the city.  Lunch and degustation of St Peters’ fish. A cruise on the Sea of Galilee. Return for dinner and overnight.

DAY 3

Breakfast. A mass in the Church of st Peter in Tiberias. Drive to Jordan. The we head over to one of the cities of Decapolis – Gerasa – currently Jerash. Gerasa is one of the most wonderful ruins of the Greco – Roman city. To this day fragments of the city survived with many remarkable monuments. We’ll walk under the impressive Hadrians’ Arch and continue along the ”Way of the Columns”, sightseeing this impressive city. Return for dinner and overnight.

DAY 4

Breakfast. After breakfast tour of the capital of Jordan, visiting the remains of the ancient Philadelphia. We head over to the citadel with fragments of Roman, Byzantine and Arab buildings. We’ll see Sanctuary of Hercules, the complex of the Ummayad castle with a monumental auditory room. We head over to Mount Nebo, known traditionally as the place of Moses’ death. From here Moses was supposed to see the Promised Land, however he did not manage to walk over to it with the Israeli tribes. Heading over to Madaba, where we’ll see the map of the Holy Land. Return for dinner and overnight.

DAY 5

Breakfast. Sightseeing of Petra – the ancient city of the vaults and sanctuaries of the Nabateans from the third century B.C. carved into a pink rock. From the cove we’ll be able to see the ”famous vault” – one of the most beautiful ancient buildings, where the finale of the movie ”Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” takes place. Visit the ruins of the city  of Sela, mentiones in the Bible, hidden in between the mountains. Transfer for dinner and overnight in Aqaba at the Mediterranean Sea.

DAY 6

Breakfast and then a transfer to one of the most beautiful desserts in the world – Wadi Rum – the place which is known from the movie ”Lawrence of Arabia”. We continue the trip with jeeps along the majestic sand dunes and rocks. We’ll see the coves and we’ll climb the sand dunes, whichs’ fantastical formes shine with different colours, depending on the time of the day and the sunlight. Return for dinner and an overnight stay.

DAY 7

Breakfast. Free day at leisure for swimming or sunbathing at the Red Sea in Aqaba. Return for dinner and overnight.

DAY 8

Breakfast. Return to Israel. Our next stop is to Ejlat, where we’ll see one of the most  beautiful aquariums in the world, which grew on the coral reef. On the way to Jerusalem we’ll stop at the Dead Sea beach in Ein Bokek – the best place to take a dip. Dinner and overnight in Bethlehem.

DAY 9

Breakfast. We head to Jerusalem. We will start the tour of the Old City from the Gate of st Stephen, continue to the Roman Church of St Anne from the 12 century – the best preserved monument, commemorating the birth of the Mother of God, After his we head over to Via Dolorosa, which we enter at the Church of the Flagellation and the Ecce Homo Basilica. The stations of the Way of the Cross will lead over to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in which there are, among others, the last stations of the Via Dolorosa and the Stone of Anointing. In the afternoon wwe take our leave for the Christian Zion – visiting the Cenacle, the Dormintion Abbey, the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu and the Western Wall. Return for dinner and overnight.

DAY 10

Breakfast. We start our day in Jerusalem with a visit to the Mount of Olives. Then we contunue to the monastery of Discalded Carmelities sisters – Pater Noster. Next on to the Dominus Flevit Chapel (The Lord Wept). Then following the traditional road of the Palm Sunday procession, we will walk to the Gethsemane Basilica. We then cross the Olive Garden with old olive trees and visit  the Grotto of Gethsemane. We end this day with a visit to Bethlehem – the place where Jesus was born. Return for dinner and overnight.

DAY 11

Breakfast. Transfer to Jericho and then sightseeing at Masada, where we’ll see the remains of an ancient fortress built by Herod the Great. Further on a visit to the Ein Gedi National Park – the famous canyon in between the mountains. Transfer to the Dead Sea for a mud bath. Return for dinner and overnight.

DAY 12

Breakfast. We start our day with a Mass in Ein Karem. Continue with a visit to Yad Vashem. Then drive to Tel Aviv, for a swim or some rest on the shore of the Mediterranean and say our farewells to Israel. The end of the pilgrimage.

PRICE : FROM $ 1380  OR  € 1220