The Shrine of the Beatitudes
"Now when he saw the
crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to
him, and he began to teach them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in
spirit.’" (Matthew 5:1-3)
The place of the Beatitudes mentioned
by the 4th-century pilgrim, the Lady Egeria, is on the hillside some 60 meters
northeast of the Church of the
Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fishes, just above the road leading
to Capernaum.
In 1937, a more convenient (and
dramatic) site for a new shrine of the Beatitudes was selected further up the
hill.
The building was designed by Antonio
Barluzzi in neo-Renaissance style. Built of contrasting black basalt and white
limestone, it has arched porticos on each of the four sides. The one-storey
building is surmounted by a buttressed octagonal drum and dome rising above
the main chapel. The octagonal shape commemorates the Eight Beatitudes. The
sanctuary around the altar is encircled by an open, arched ambulatory. Windows
in the outer wall permit a panoramic view of Lake Kinneret.
The shrine and adjoining hospice for
pilgrims are served by the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The property itself is owned by an Italian Catholic society (Associazione
Nazionale per soccorrere i Missionari Italiani).
In January 1999, a foundation stone
was laid for the nearby Domus Galilaeae, a new spirituality center for
Christian pilgrims and scholars. The foundation stone comes from the tomb of
St. Peter in Rome and was blessed by His Holiness Pope John Paul II on
Christmas Eve 1998.
Sources: Israeli
Foreign Ministry |