Two Catholic churches a few hundred metres apart occupy the stretch of Sea of Galilee lakefront known as Tabgha (an Arabic corruption of the Greek hepta pega, meaning ‘seven springs’). An attractive walkway links Tabgha with Capernaum, a distance of about 3km.
The austere, German Benedictine Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves & Fishes , built in 1982, stands on the site of a 5th-century Byzantine church. Parts of it were badly damaged in the summer of 2015 after an arson attack by right-wing Jewish extremists and reconstruction is currently in the works. The rock under the altar is believed by some to be the ‘solitary place’ where Jesus is said to have laid the five loaves and two fishes that multiplied to feed 5000 faithful listeners.
A few hundred metres to the east, a shady, fragrant garden leads down to the water’s edge and the Franciscan Church of the Primacy of St Peter , a chapel – lit by the vivid colours of abstract stained glass – built in 1933. The flat rock in front of the altar was known to Byzantine pilgrims as Mensa Christi (Christ’s Table) because it was believed that Jesus and his disciples breakfasted on fish here. On the side of the church facing the lake, a few steps cut out of the rock are said by some to be where Jesus stood when his disciples saw him. (On the other hand, the steps may have been cut in the 2nd or 3rd century, when the area was quarried for limestone.) Just west of the church, a path leads to three serene outdoor chapels surrounded by the reeds and trees that grow along the lakeshore.
