Bethlehem and West Bank

The Occupied Palestinian Territories on the West Bank of the Jordan River were known as Judea and Samaria in ancient times and are full of historical sites and places of biblical resonance. Bethlehem is revered throughout the Christian world as the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Here, Empress Helena built the magnificent Church of the Nativity on the traditional site of Christ’s birth in 325 AD.

Outside is Manger Square and the Milk Grotto Church. The Herodion, a fortress and palace with a volcano-like appearance, is one of Herod the Great’s most outstanding architectural achievements and is located in the Judean desert, a short drive to the southwest. In the same vicinity, the great walled 8th-century desert monastery of Mar Saba clings dramatically to the cliffs of the Kidron Valley. The Dead Sea Scrolls, the world’s oldest Bible, were discovered in caves near the shores of the Dead Sea at Qumran. Nearby, on the banks of the reedy Jordan River, is Qasr El Yahud, where John the Baptist christened Jesus.

The quiet market town of Jericho, where Joshua brought down the city walls, is a short drive away. Here, you can see Zacchaeus’s sycamore tree, the Umayyad Palace of Hisham, and outside the city, Mount Temptation, where Jesus is said to have fasted for 40 days. The impressive sheer-sided canyon of Wadi Qelt lies between the Jordan Valley and Jerusalem and is a popular spot for hiking; it is also the remote location of the fortress-like Monastery of St George. Just outside East Jerusalem are the ruins of a church built to commemorate Jesus’s proverb of the Good Samaritan at Khan al-Ahmar and the village of Bethany, where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.