By Heba Hrimat This city of Beit Jala, where olive oil is equally expensive to gold, and the origin of its name is as old as history, meaning ‘grass carpet’ in Aramaic, is located only 1.8 km away from Bethlehem…
By Heba Hrimat The extra ordinary Monastery of St George, which can be seen hanging on a cliff and tightly embraced within the ancient rocks of the deep valley of “Wadi Qelt” [Wadi: Arabic for valley] in the Judean desert,…
![The Church of ‘The Ascension of the Lord’ and ‘Prophet Elijah’ in Ma'lul before restoration [in May 2009].](https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Malul-1-282x200.jpg)
By Heba Hrimat 12 km to the west of the city of Nazareth, a rugged country road leads us to a hill covered with pine trees. As our vehicle starts to go through this pine forest, we may get the…
By Heba Hrimat The town of Sabastiya, which is located 12 kilometers northwest of the city of Nablus, may seem just another modest town at first. However, this quickly starts to alter as we approach the ‘Historic Site’ of the…
By Heba Hrimat Within the chain of villages that surround the Governorate and city of Nablus, lies the village of Nisf Jubeil in the north-west part of Nablus City, just a few kilometers from the historic village of Sebastya. According…
By Heba Hrimat In a town that merely inhabits in its humble neighbourhoods 68 scattered Christians alongside their 7000 Muslim cohabitants, lies one of the world’s oldest Churches, a few metres away from the historic centre of the town…
By Heba Hrimat Tubas is a Palestinian city a few kilometers to the west of the Jordan River. Its history dates back to the Canaanite era, that`s when it was originally named ‘Tuba Syoys’ which translates ‘shining star’. Tubas is…
By Heba Hrimat To the north of the West Bank and 15 km to the south-east of the City of Jenin, lies the town of Zababdeh or al-Zababida. The history of this small town dates back to no longer than…
By Heba Hrimat The Church of Jacob’s well is located in Tel Balata in the eastern part of Nablus city. The 41 meter-deep well can be accessed by entering the Church, and descending the stairs to a crypt containing the…
By Heba Hrimat Nablus is a city located in the northern West Bank, about 49 km to the north of Jerusalem, and lies between the mountains of Gerzem and Ebal. The name of this city, which is nearly 2000 years old, dates back to the Roman emperor Vespasian, who named it ‘flavia neapolis’ which…
