The village of Ein Karem is pretty small, only about 2,000 residents according to the web, but it attracts almost 3,000,000 visitors each year. Ein Karem is believed to be the birthplace of John the Baptist, and where the Virgin Mary came to meet her cousin Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.
Luke 1:39-41 reads "
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit."
The town has a number of churches that commemorate the events that happened here, and there is a small spring, Mary's Spring, that the Virgin Mary is thought to have drunk from. The water from the spring is thought by some Catholic and Orthodox to be holy, and apparently it is popular to fill your water bottle from the spring (in spite of what the signs say).
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| The spring! |
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| When the spring is really flowing, I think it is supposed to fill up this labyrinth |
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| The spring and the labyrinth |
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| No drinking, swimming, etc... |
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| The steeple of the Church of John the Baptist, a Catholic Church, supposedly built on the site of the birthplace of John the Baptist. There is a cafe in front so I was trying to shoot over that! |
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| The Cathedral of All Russian Saints is built on a hill overlooking the spring |
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| Another shot of The Cathedral of All Russian Saints |
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