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Tiberias is the largest city in the Galilee area. There are several natural hot springs which resulted in the building of several Turkish bathhouses in the middle ages.
At Tiberias we boarded a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. The boat was a reconstruction of a fishing boat from the first century AD. 


From the boat we could see city of Tiberias.
Along the coast we passed the city of Magdala (home of Mary Magdalene).

One of the sailors demonstrated how the fishermen of the Biblical days cast the fishing nets.
Other similar boats were crossing the Sea of Galilee.
While crossing the Sea of Galilee, we held a brief service. Kris (Methodist minister from Kansas) gave a brief message and Suzanna concluded the service by singing “Amazing Grace”.

In 1986 the Kibbutz Ginosar discovered a boat in sediment at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee, when a severe drought lowered the sea level. The fishing boat has been dated back to the time of Christ.
Next we visited Tabgha, which is the traditional site of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fish.
An altar was built over the stone where Jesus had laid the loaves and then a church was built around it.
The church was destroyed in 614 by invading Persians. A new church building was built in 1982 to protect the original mosaic tiles.
The mosaic tiles were laid around 450 AD.
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