Holyland Pilgrimage: The Holyland, Egypt & Sinai
13 Day Tour
DAY 01:
BEGINNING OUR EXPLORING TOUR
Depart North America via jet service to Cairo, Egypt. Meals will be served in flight.
DAY 02:
INTO THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS
Upon your arrival in Cairo, you will be met by our representative and assisted through immigration and customs formalities. You will be transferred by private motorcoach to your hotel for overnight.
DAY 03:
EGYPTIANMUSEUM / OLD CAIRO/ GIZA
The Mask of King Tut
Morning visit to the Egyptian Museum to view many specimens of finest antiquities including precious collections from the tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amon. Enjoy a sightseeing drive along the Nile Corniche, past Kasr El Aini Hospital to Old Cairo. Then visit the Coptic Churches of Abu Sarga associated with the Flight of the Christ Child to Egypt; visit the Church of St. Mary where 200,000 people witnessed many miraculous apparitions of the Blessed Mother on the roof of the Church; Ben Ezra Synagogue; AMR Mosque and the site at the Nile where Moses was found in the bulrushes. Drive via Republic Square, past Abdin Palace to Sultan Hasan Mosque, the Citadel, Mohammed Aly Mosque for a panorama of Cairo; through the City of the Dead; El Azhar University to the native bazaars of Khan el Khalili. This afternoon proceed to the Giza Plateau to see one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Cheops, Chephren, and Mycernius Pyramids and the Sphinx. Return to your hotel.
DAY 04:
CAIRO/ST. CATHERINES
St. Catherine's Monastary
Today we travel from Cairo through the Sinai to the world famous St. Catherine's Monastery at the foot of the steep granite walls of Gebel Musa (Mount of Moses or Mount Sinai). This is the site where Moses had his famous conversation with God and received the Ten Commandments. The monastery complex abounds in delightful sights and is the Sinai's prime tourist attraction. Overnight at St. Catherine's.
DAY 05:
ST. CATHERINES / JERUSALEM
Morning sightseeing of the Monastery before proceeding to the border at Taba where you will cross into Israel. Eilat, Israel's resort on the Red Sea. Time will be allowed for brief sightseeing in and around Eilat. Continue to Jerusalem for dinner and overnight.
DAY 06:
JERUSALEM AND BETHLEHEM
Entrance of Humility,
Church of the Nativity
Drive to Bethlehem. Visit the Basilica of the Nativity, built over the site of the birthplace of Christ. Visit the Cave where Christ was born and it is the occasion to sing the traditional Christmas Hymns. A visit is made to the Chapel of St. Jerome, who lived here for many years and translated the Bible into Latin. The nearby Church of St. Catherine is the venue for the midnight Mass which is broadcast all over the world from Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. Continue to Shepherds Field, recalling the “great throng of the heavenly hosts” who appeared to the shepherds and told them of the birth of the Saviour. Proceed to Mount Zion visiting the Room of the Last Supper, Church of the Dormition, and then visit the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu built on the site of the house of Caiaphas which encloses the dungeon where Christ was kept on Holy Thursday night and where Peter denied Christ thrice.
DAY 07:
JERUSALEM
This morning visit the Church of St. Ann, built on the site of the birthplace of Our Lady. Continue to the Pool of Bethesda where Christ healed the paralytic. Visit the Temple area, the spot where the original temple was built and which was the scene of many episodes from the life of Christ, such as the expulsion of the money changers. Here now stands the Dome of the Rock, the third holiest spot in the world for the Moslem faith. Visit the El Aqsa Mosque and then the Wailing Wall - the most sacred spot in the world for the Jews. This afternoon tour the Old City of Jerusalem, visiting the Chapel of Flagellation, the Chapel of Condemnation and the Lithostrotos, the site of the Antonia Fortress where Julius Caesar resided at the time of Christ and where Christ was tried and condemned to death. Beginning the Way of the Cross here, walk along the Via Dolorosa – ending at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, built over the site of the Crucifixion and the Tomb. Visit Calvary and the Tomb of Our Lord followed by a short tour of the Basilica.
DAY 08:
EIN KAREM / NEW CITY OF JERUSALEM
Drive to Ein Karem, the place of the Visitation where Our Lady came to visit her cousin Elizabeth. View the plaques with the Magnificat in most languages of the world. Visit the parish church of St. John the Baptist, and the Grotto of his birth. Visit the Model of the Second Temple showing Jerusalem as it was laid out in the time of Christ. Return to the hotel.
DAY 09:
MOUNTAINS OF JERUSALEM
Chapel of the Ascension
Drive to the Mount of Olives and visit the Church of the Ascension, the spot where Christ ascended into Heaven; the Pater Noster Church commemorating Christ’s teaching of the Our Father to the Disciples; Dominus Flevit, the spot where Christ wept over Jerusalem. Continue onwards to Gethsemane to view the ancient olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane and to visit the Church of All Nations which houses the Rock of the Agony of Christ on Holy Thursday. In this church is a beautiful mosaic donated by the United States. Visit the Cave of the Betrayal of Jesus and the Tomb of Our Lady. Continue to Beitphage, a village on the Mount of Olives to which Jesus sent two of his disciples to take the donkey which he was to use for the triumphal entry into the city. This is where the Palm Sunday Procession began, as it does today. Return to your hotel.
DAY 10:
ALONG THE JORDANVALLEY
Leave Jerusalem and drive to Bethany and visit the new church built on the site of the house of Mary and Martha. Visit the Tomb of Lazarus. Proceed to the Inn of the Good Samaritan. Drive along the Roman road and through the Valley of Death to view the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. George Koziba and continue to the ancient city of Jericho from which you can view the Mount of Temptation, where Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights. Head northward along the Jordan Valley to Nazareth to visit the Basilica of the Annunciation enclosing the remains of the House of Joachim and Ann and the site where the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary to announce that she was to become the Mother of God. Visit to the Home of the Holy Family, St. Joseph's workshop, Mary's Well and the Synagogue where Jesus preached. Continue to Cana, where Christ performed the first miracle and where any married couples can renew their marriage vows. Proceed to your hotel in Tiberias for overnight.
DAY 11:
THE SEA OF GALILEE AND UPPER GALILEE
The Jordan River
In the morning, cross the Sea of Galilee by boat from Tiberias to Capernaum, now in ruins but once a thriving town where Peter lived and where much of the public ministry of Christ took place. See the Church of the Primacy of Peter, where Christ confirmed Peter as the Head of the Church and we visit the Mount of Beatitudes where Christ taught the Eight Beatitudes to his disciples. Proceed to Tabgha, the place of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fish. Continue to the ruins of Magdala where Mary Magdalen lived. In the afternoon, drive to the Golan Heights in Upper Galilee. Visit the Sources of the Jordan, view Tel Dan, and visit the exit of the River Jordan from the Sea of Galilee. Return to your hotel.
DAY 12:
ALL THE PAST YEARS WITH HISTORY
Morning departure from Tiberias to Mt. Tabor. Drive to the top of Mount Tabor, the site of the Transfiguration. Continue to Haifa, visiting Mount Carmel and the Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and the Cave of the Prophet, Elijah. Proceed along the shores of the Mediterranean to Caesarea Martima on the Plains of Sharon to visit the Roman Aqueduct and the ruins of the Crusader’s City, surrounded by a dry moat and a city wall enclosing the ruins of this Roman city. Visit the Roman Theater. Proceed to Tel Aviv for dinner and overnight.
DAY 13:
TEL AVIV / NORTH AMERICA
Transfer to the airport for your return flight to North America.