The annual congress of the Israeli Antiquities Department took place at Saxum Visitor Center’s conference hall on August 5th. It was the fifth edition of the Judean Hills Archaeology, Environment and Community Congress. This year, Saxum hosted the event for the first time. There were seven lectures on  archaeology, urban planning and the history of the Byzantine […]

Not far from Jerusalem, the Benedictine Abbey of Abu Ghosh shelters an oasis, full of plants encircling a pond. A commemorative plaque reads that the place is dedicated to “the man who, from his special position, has done much for the relations between Catholics and Jews.” This man was Aaron Jean-Marie Lustiger. There is more about […]

In the Garden of Gethsemane, close to the Church of All Nations, there is another slightly hidden site: the Church of the Tomb of Mary.  Several Christian traditions talk about the death or dormition of Virgin Mary, but all coincide to say that she was taken, body and soul, to Heaven: the Assumption. This church […]