Church of St. Gabriel
This Greek Orthodox church is built over Nazareth's only natural water source, a spring dubbed Mary's Well. The Greek Orthodox, citing the noncanonical Gospel of St. James, believe it to be the place where the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce the coming birth of Jesus.
The ornate church was built in 1750 and contains a stunning carved-wood pulpit and iconostasis (chancel screen) with painted New Testament scenes and silver-haloed saints. The walls have frescoes of figures from the Bible and the Greek Orthodox hagiography. A tiny "well" stands over the running water, and an aluminum cup gives a satisfying plop as it drops in. (The water is clean; the cup is more suspect.) The church is open to visitors in the morning.
