What to Do There: An audiovisual display provides a fine introduction to the village. Take lots of pictures! You’ll be surprised how good they turn out. Take the guided tour and imagine yourself in century-one Nazareth.How to Get There: Take Route 60 to Nazareth and turn right on Route 75. Turn left on A-Shuhada road. Park in the large parking lot of the Nazareth YMCA. The Nazareth Village reception is located on the second floor of the YMCA.Wayne Stiles has never recovered from his travels in the Holy Land. Follow him on Twitter (@WayneStiles) or on his blog at www.waynestiles.com. To my surprise, our time in the Nazareth Village proved to be one of our guests’ favorite stops in the Galilee. The village transported us back two thousand years and gave us a taste of the first century in a place where significant events actually occurred.As we entered through the rock doorway, I had to look hard to find anything that looked modern. Sheep pens, burning oil lamps, cultivated fields, reapers with sickles, shepherds with flocks, hand-hewn caves with foodstuffs—all served to help us visualize life as it was during the Roman Empire.Based on considerable research, the village is designed to portray first-century agriculture, clothing, foods, and building techniques. We entered a life-sized synagogue and discovered how it remained cool in the heat of summer. A huge millstone showed how a donkey would have circled to crush the wheat. A wall-sized loom allowed a woman in period dress to describe how multicolored fabrics were woven. Terraced walkways and smooth paths made it easy for all ages to explore.Because I love woodworking, my favorite moment was the carpenter shop. I could not imagine making furniture without my table saw, router, and orbital sander. And yet, the carpenters of Galilee used a variety of ingenious hand tools to produce everything from practical implements to heirloom pieces. The carpenter toiled over a crude workbench and gave new meaning to the term wood-
Sights and Insights: A surprising visit to Nazareth
Dr. Wayne Stiles was skeptical about the Nazareth Village, but it turned out to be a favorite stop for his fellow travelers.
What to Do There: An audiovisual display provides a fine introduction to the village. Take lots of pictures! You’ll be surprised how good they turn out. Take the guided tour and imagine yourself in century-one Nazareth.How to Get There: Take Route 60 to Nazareth and turn right on Route 75. Turn left on A-Shuhada road. Park in the large parking lot of the Nazareth YMCA. The Nazareth Village reception is located on the second floor of the YMCA.Wayne Stiles has never recovered from his travels in the Holy Land. Follow him on Twitter (@WayneStiles) or on his blog at www.waynestiles.com. To my surprise, our time in the Nazareth Village proved to be one of our guests’ favorite stops in the Galilee. The village transported us back two thousand years and gave us a taste of the first century in a place where significant events actually occurred.As we entered through the rock doorway, I had to look hard to find anything that looked modern. Sheep pens, burning oil lamps, cultivated fields, reapers with sickles, shepherds with flocks, hand-hewn caves with foodstuffs—all served to help us visualize life as it was during the Roman Empire.Based on considerable research, the village is designed to portray first-century agriculture, clothing, foods, and building techniques. We entered a life-sized synagogue and discovered how it remained cool in the heat of summer. A huge millstone showed how a donkey would have circled to crush the wheat. A wall-sized loom allowed a woman in period dress to describe how multicolored fabrics were woven. Terraced walkways and smooth paths made it easy for all ages to explore.Because I love woodworking, my favorite moment was the carpenter shop. I could not imagine making furniture without my table saw, router, and orbital sander. And yet, the carpenters of Galilee used a variety of ingenious hand tools to produce everything from practical implements to heirloom pieces. The carpenter toiled over a crude workbench and gave new meaning to the term wood-