Tiberas         Founded around 20 AD by Herod Antipas, the city was named after the Roman Emperor Tiberus.  It's had a rich history since then and has been conquered by many invading groups.  Along with industry and fishing, Tiberias is a destination for Christian pilgrims because of its mention in the Bible.  Tiberias has one of the lowest elevations for any city in the world, -213 meters below sea level.  (For those who don’t know, a meter and a yard are almost the same length.) 

I had no plans to visit the city.  It was a bus stop on my way to Kinneret.  However, on my phone, I saw that the bus station was very close to the Church of Saint Peter, so named because the Catholics believed it is in the vicinity where Peter fished.  The church was built by the Crusaders in the 1100s, who designed the building to resemble an overturned boat (symbolizing how Peter left his boat to follow Christ).  When the Crusaders were defeated by the Muslims in 1187, the building became a mosque.  Then, in the 1800s, Franciscans took over control of the building and fully restored it in 1870. 

A statue of Peter, modeled after the one in Rome, is on display somewhere on the grounds – or so they say.  I never saw it.  But, in the chapel that I visited were statues of most of the people you would expect to see: Mary, Joseph, Jesus, as well as the disciples Andrew, James, John, and Phillip who were all from the area.  I personally, for whatever reason, liked the one of St. Phillip the best.  I didn’t check close enough to see if he spelled his name correctly.