Set on the outskirts of old Nazareth, the Nazareth Village is built on ancient agricultural land that boasts the area’s last remaining first-century wine press. The original farm has been restored with its ancient wine press, terraces, irrigation system and stone quarry, and exact replicas of first-century houses, a synagogue, a watchtower, mikveh and olive presses have been carefully constructed using the original building methods and materials.
Together, these elements form the Nazareth Village, an authentic first-century farm and archaeologically accurate re-creation of the hometown of Jesus with real ties to the life and time of His friends, family and fellow Nazarenes.
Pilgrims to the Holy Land typically only see the dead stones of ancient ruins, but the geographical and cultural nuances of Jesus’ teaching are often crucial to understanding their full meaning. At Nazareth Village, bible scenes are brought to life by “villagers” who populate the farm and houses, living and working with the same type of clothing, pottery, tools and methods that Mary and Jesus would have used.
According to archaeologists, the 6-hectare plot on which Nazareth Village is located is historic land. Having remained untouched since New Testament times, the hillside was preserved on the grounds of the Nazareth Hospital, established in 1906 by what is now the Nazareth Trust. Ninety years later, excavations began to unearth the treasures hidden below the surface, with scholarly research led by experts from the Jerusalem-based University of the Holy Land underpinning the project.
Extensive archaeological excavations revealed that this remarkably preserved site is home to a 2,000-year-old wine press cut into the bedrock. This man-made basin where grapes were trod had a channel leading to a pit where the runoff juice was collected. The remains of a vineyard, watchtowers, terraces, spring-fed irrigation system and stone quarries tell the story of a working farm area just outside the original centre of ancient Nazareth. Pottery from as far back as the Early Bronze Age — more than 2,000 years before Christ — was also discovered on site.
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