Tabgha
"And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert
place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into
the village, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, “They need
not depart; give ye them to eat.” And they said unto him, “We have but five
loaves, and two fishes.” He said, “Bring them hither to me.” And he commanded
the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two
fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to
his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and
were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets
full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and
children" (Matthew, XIV 15-21).
The place where this occurred, situated near the Sea of Galilee on the slopes of
the Mount of Beatitudes, is known locally also as Tabgha. This name is the Arab
version of a Greek word whose meaning seems from its sound to be "seven
fountains" (Heptapegon). There are, in fact, some sulfurous springs in the area,
once much prized and frequented because they cured skin diseases. According to
tradition, it was by bathing in one of these springs that Job was cured of
leprosy. In our days the waters have been found to have a high level of
radioactivity, so that their therapeutic use is not advised.
But the aspect of Tabgha which principally arouses the interest of visitors
is the existence there of two churches commemorating two well-known episodes in
the life of Jesus, the multiplication of the loaves and fishes and the third
appearance to his disciples after the Resurrection. The Church of the Loaves and
Fishes is a modern building standing on the site of a fourth century Byzantine
church, built where Jesus was sitting while he performed one of his best known
miracles. The ancient church, already damaged by earthquakes in the sixth
century, was completely destroyed a century later. All trace and even memory of
it was lost, until Benedictine monks rediscovered, during the last century, its
very interesting vestiges.
The interior of the basilica follows the classical pattern for this type of
building: nave and aisles, transept, apse and narthex. That makes this church
one of the sights most frequently visited by tourists is the splendid mosaic
decoration. Counted among the most refined examples of the art of mosaic in the
Holy Land, the mosaics of the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and
Fishes stand out for their vibrant colors and for the fine execution of
decorative motifs, such as the animals and plants typical of the surroundings of
the lake. But the most, it depicts symbolically the miracle after which the
church is named: it shows a basket full of loaves between two fishes. Below the
high alter is a stone marking the place where Christ put down the two fishes and
five loaves.
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