Nazareth is the capital and the largest city in the North of the Holy Land. Nazareth was referred to as ‘town of Galilee’ and home of Mary, it is also the childhood home of Jesus, and as such is a center of Christian pilgrimage, with many shrines commemorating biblical events. The most important religious site is the Church of the Annunciation; the largest Catholic Church in the Middle East. In Roman Catholic tradition, it marks the site where the Angel Gabriel announced the future birth of Jesus to the Mary. The Church of St. Gabriel is an alternative Greek Orthodox site for the Annunciation. The Synagogue Church is a Melkite Greek Catholic Church at the traditional site of the synagogue where Jesus preached. The Mensa Christi Church, run by the Franciscan religious order, commemorates the traditional location where Jesus dined with the Apostles after his Resurrection.
