Virtual Holy Land Gallery
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is the holiest city in Christianity and the spiritual center of the Jewish people since the 10th century. The city contains significant ancient Christian sites and, although not once mentioned in the Koran is considered the third holiest city in Islam. Despite having an area of only 0.9 square kilometer (0.35 square mile), the Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the Temple Mount and its Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives.
The Galilee
Galilee (Hebrew: הגליל ha-Galil), meaning "circuit", is a large region overlapping with much of the northernn area of Israel. Most of the Galilee consists of rocky terrain, at heights of about 500-700 meters. There are several high mountains such as Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon. In Roman times, the region was divided into Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, which comprised the whole northern section of the country. Herod Antipas ruled Galilee during Jesus' ministry.
Samaria
In the Zechariah the Mount of Olives is identified as the place from which God will begin to redeem the dead at the end of days. For this reason, Jews have always sought to be buried on the mountain, and from Biblical times to the present day the mountain has been used as a cemetery. There are an estimated 150,000 graves on the Mount, including that of Zechariah.
Judeah
In Genesis 18, God informs Abraham that he plans to destroy the city of Sodom because of its gross immorality. Abraham pleads with God not to destroy Sodom, and God agrees that he would not destroy the city if there were 50 righteous people in it, then 45, then 30, then 20, or even ten righteous people. The Lord's two angels only found one righteous person living in Sodom, Abraham's nephew Lot.. Consequently, God destroyed the city.