The River Jordan

Next stop was Tabgha, the Byzantine monastery recently built when the site of the church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes was discovered, having been destroyed by the Persians in 614.  This original symbol of the Loaves and Fishes is still in the mosaic on the floor of the church.

Then it was on to the final stop, the Yardenit on the Jordan river, where Jesus was baptized.  Pilgrims come the world over to be baptized in the river.  The river is beautiful, crisp and clear, with a bluish tint to the water.  Then it was back through the Jordan Valley along the West Bank where you could see small Jordan villages in the distance.