DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10357#0318
NAZARETH.
trooping at their heels. The open space is the rendezvous of the town, for there is no "gate of
the city " where there is no wall. Hither we may be quite sure the Virgin-mother daily came
followed by her Divine Son, and often He, too, as He grew up, would carry his pitcher with
his mother, as we may see the boys of Nazareth to-day. Here, says the tradition, the angel
Gabriel appeared to Mary, and hence the Great Church of the Greeks just above is
dedicated to Gabriel. The present church is a modern structure, but occupies the site of one
which existed in the time of Arculph, a.d. 700. The spring is under the church, a portion of
which is actually cut out of the rock. There is a well let down in the pavement, by which
water is raised for the use of pilgrims, and a channel of masonry at a considerable depth
conveys the stream to the public fountain. The Latin holy place is the Franciscan convent,
where many an Englishman has been hospitably and kindly entertained, and which, it is
pretended, occupies, or rather contains, the site of the house of Joseph and Mary before it
took its aerial voyage to Loretto. This site, too, is as old as the time of Arculph, and a
succession of churches has occupied the ground. At first we only know of a rock-cut grotto,
said to be the Virgin's house. Then succeeded a Greek church. The Crusaders erected
a great church on the same site, of which portions existed when Maundrell visited Nazareth
two hundred and fifty years ago. The modern church and monastery is only about one
hundred and eighty years old, but undoubtedly cover the traditional grotto, which is still shown.
The other so-called holy places, such as Joseph's workshop, are of comparatively recent origin,
and have little to interest, nor have they any pretensions to architectural beauty. No less than
six Christian churches and sects are represented in Nazareth, and for once the English Church
asserts her rightful position as the representative of the Reformation in the East. Three of
the most conspicuous buildings in Nazareth are the English Church, the Protestant Hospital
connected with it, open to all, and the Orphanage for Girls, recently built by the English
Female Education Society for the East. They all stand high, and the orphanage overlooks
the whole place, perched just beneath the summit of Neby Sa'in. The English church was
raised by the gifts of English visitors, but its Gothic tower was the gift of the Grand Duke
of Mecklenburg, as a memorial of his visit to the Holy Land. The schools, both of the
Church Missionary Society, in the centre of the town, and of the Female Education Society,
will repay a visit, and have stimulated largely educational effort on the part of the native
churches. There is a considerable Protestant population in Nazareth, which owes much to the
persevering labours for many years of the Rev. J. Zeller, now of Jerusalem.
We cannot fail to notice both the bright costumes and the healthy, intelligent, and often
beautiful faces and figures of the women of Nazareth, owing, doubtless, in some degree, as in
the case of their Bethlehemite sisters, to the admixture of Crusading blood in their veins. But
this cannot be the sole cause, as in the sixth century they are spoken of as noted for their
beauty, which was attributed to the blessing of the Virgin. Being chiefly Christians they are
unveiled, and in some respects dress like the women of Bethlehem. They differ, however, in
their head-dress, carrying on each side of the face a rouleau of silver coins fastened to a sort
trooping at their heels. The open space is the rendezvous of the town, for there is no "gate of
the city " where there is no wall. Hither we may be quite sure the Virgin-mother daily came
followed by her Divine Son, and often He, too, as He grew up, would carry his pitcher with
his mother, as we may see the boys of Nazareth to-day. Here, says the tradition, the angel
Gabriel appeared to Mary, and hence the Great Church of the Greeks just above is
dedicated to Gabriel. The present church is a modern structure, but occupies the site of one
which existed in the time of Arculph, a.d. 700. The spring is under the church, a portion of
which is actually cut out of the rock. There is a well let down in the pavement, by which
water is raised for the use of pilgrims, and a channel of masonry at a considerable depth
conveys the stream to the public fountain. The Latin holy place is the Franciscan convent,
where many an Englishman has been hospitably and kindly entertained, and which, it is
pretended, occupies, or rather contains, the site of the house of Joseph and Mary before it
took its aerial voyage to Loretto. This site, too, is as old as the time of Arculph, and a
succession of churches has occupied the ground. At first we only know of a rock-cut grotto,
said to be the Virgin's house. Then succeeded a Greek church. The Crusaders erected
a great church on the same site, of which portions existed when Maundrell visited Nazareth
two hundred and fifty years ago. The modern church and monastery is only about one
hundred and eighty years old, but undoubtedly cover the traditional grotto, which is still shown.
The other so-called holy places, such as Joseph's workshop, are of comparatively recent origin,
and have little to interest, nor have they any pretensions to architectural beauty. No less than
six Christian churches and sects are represented in Nazareth, and for once the English Church
asserts her rightful position as the representative of the Reformation in the East. Three of
the most conspicuous buildings in Nazareth are the English Church, the Protestant Hospital
connected with it, open to all, and the Orphanage for Girls, recently built by the English
Female Education Society for the East. They all stand high, and the orphanage overlooks
the whole place, perched just beneath the summit of Neby Sa'in. The English church was
raised by the gifts of English visitors, but its Gothic tower was the gift of the Grand Duke
of Mecklenburg, as a memorial of his visit to the Holy Land. The schools, both of the
Church Missionary Society, in the centre of the town, and of the Female Education Society,
will repay a visit, and have stimulated largely educational effort on the part of the native
churches. There is a considerable Protestant population in Nazareth, which owes much to the
persevering labours for many years of the Rev. J. Zeller, now of Jerusalem.
We cannot fail to notice both the bright costumes and the healthy, intelligent, and often
beautiful faces and figures of the women of Nazareth, owing, doubtless, in some degree, as in
the case of their Bethlehemite sisters, to the admixture of Crusading blood in their veins. But
this cannot be the sole cause, as in the sixth century they are spoken of as noted for their
beauty, which was attributed to the blessing of the Virgin. Being chiefly Christians they are
unveiled, and in some respects dress like the women of Bethlehem. They differ, however, in
their head-dress, carrying on each side of the face a rouleau of silver coins fastened to a sort