Shoreline

Shoreline

View looking west along the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee near the Church of the Twelve Apostles."  Note the basalt boulders along the shore.


The Greek Orthodox "Monastery of the Twelve Apostles" is located 150 yards to the east of the Franciscan site of Capernaum on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee.  It is actually built on top of portions of the antiquity site of ancient Capernaum, although little of the property has been excavated.

The Greek Orthodox Church purchased the property in the nineteenth century.  In 1925 the "Church of the Twelve Apostles" was built.  After the founding of Israel in 1848, the monastery turned out to be in "no man's land"—and thus not accessible.  It fell into decay.  In 1969, after the Six Days War of 1967, the monastery became accessible and in the 1990s the church was refurbished.