Late Antique Pilgrim Monasteries in Galilean Loca Sancta

From its early stages, monasticism was related to pilgrimages due to the crucial role that the monks played in looking after the needs of pilgrims, either secular or religious. The inextricable link between pilgrims and monks is attested in many holy sites in Palestine, both in deserted and inhabited landscapes. Jerusalem and its hinterland, together with the pilgrim roads that lead to Mount Nebo in the east, Mount Sinai in the south and Egypt in the south-west, were dotted with dozens of pilgrim churches that were served and maintained by monks whose activities are documented both in literary sources and archaeological finds.

Although there are almost no written sources mentioning a pilgrim monastery in Galilee, archaeological excavations have uncovered remains of monasteries in sites such as Sepphoris, Nazareth, Magdala, Tabgha, Capernaum and Kursi. It seems that the area of Galilee on the pilgrim map of Late Antiquity was much more significant than is apparent from the itineraries of early Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. In this study, we will survey the evidence of pilgrim monasteries in Galilee and analyse the place of monasticism in the Galilean Loca sancta in Late Antiquity.