This is the inside of the dome in the chapel at Shepherd’s Field outside Bethlehem. I liked the light pouring into the little chamber better than the murals on the walls, which were rather predictable.
The quiet fields are now gardens that cling to the side of the hills overlooking the sprawling suburb that Bethlehem has become. No, a strange thing, I never saw a single shepherd in my entire visit. Not that I visited too many places in 3 days of sight seeing. But for what its worth I did see fishermen!
The only greenery at Bethlehem today
There are grottos, and ruins of churches and new statues nestling in an oasis of green. Most of Bethlehem is large houses and buildings all built of stone, on the day we visited, Friday, it was quiet, as like in all Arab cities the Christian population has shrunk to a fraction of what it was even 20 years ago, so Bethlehem is a majority Muslim town today.
A strange square hill looms over the horizon, the guide told us that excavations had shown it to be Herod’s Summer Palace. That was enough to send a chill down the spine.
Maybe the hills looked like this
Looking out over the Judean Hills from Bethlehem
