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Day 1: Allenby Bridge - Masada - Qumran - Jerusalem Hotel
After meet & assist at Allenby. Drive to Masada, we climb (by cable-car) the famous cliff-fortress of Masada, where Herod the Great built a magnificent palace in the middle of the desert. Masada was then used as a fortress by the Jewish "Zealots" who fought, few against many, against the pagan Roman Empire. Their heroic struggle became a symbol for the modern State of Israel. Continue to Qumran, the place where the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were found, and learn about the beliefs of the Jews at the time of Jesus. Overnight in Jerusalem.
Day 2: Jerusalem Old City - Jerusalem Hotel (B)
We start with an introduction to the city from the top of The Mount of Olives, and then walk down to the Garden of Gethsemane. We also visit the "Wailing Wall", the last remnants of the Temple in Jerusalem. If the current situation allows it, we will try to visit the Temple Mount as well. We continue in the footsteps of Jesus along the Stations of the Via Dolorosa, Jesus' "Way of Suffering", and unto the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus was crucified and buried. The Via Dolorosa also passes through the Old City's oriental "Suq" (Bazaar). At the end of the day we visit King David's Tomb and the "Room of the Last Supper", the Ceanaculum. Overnight in Jerusalem.
Day 3: Bethlehem - Ein Karem - Jerusalem Hotel (B)
We travel to Bethlehem, where we first visit the ancient Church of the Nativity, where we can really touch the very place where Jesus was born. Built by St. Helena already in the 4th century, it has been an active church and never destroyed ever since! Here St. Hieronymus wrote the first Latin translation of the Bible - the "Volgata". We shall also visit the "Milk Grotto" and the "Shepherds Fields". Please note that the tour to Bethlehem can be cancelled without prior notice due to security circumstances. Returning to Jerusalem we drive to the picturesque village Ein Karem, the place where John the Baptist was born. We will visit the "St. John in the Mountains" church, built on the place where the house of St. John was standing. We will also visit the Church of Visitation, where St. Mary visited Elisabeth out in the vineyard, and prophesized her birth of St. John. Overnight in Jerusalem.
