Religious Site
Basilica of the Annunciation
buh-SIL-ih-kuh of the uh-nun-see-AY-shun · Modern Nazareth, Israel · 32.7022° N, 35.2978° E
The largest Christian church in the Middle East, the Basilica of the Annunciation marks the Roman Catholic tradition's site of the Annunciation, where the angel Gabriel told Mary she would conceive Jesus (Luke 1:26-38). The lower church encloses the Grotto of the Annunciation, venerated since at least the Byzantine period as the remains of Mary's childhood home. The current two-story basilica, designed by Italian architect Giovanni Muzio, was built 1960-1969 over the ruins of Crusader and Byzantine churches on the same spot.
Archaeology
Extensive excavations by Franciscan archaeologists (led by Bellarmino Bagatti) between 1955 and 1968 uncovered a Byzantine church (4th-5th century) with mosaic floors, a Crusader-era church built by Tancred after 1102, and evidence of a small Iron Age/early Roman village with cave dwellings, cisterns, and silos — consistent with 1st-century Nazareth being a modest agricultural hamlet. No inscription or artifact confirms this specific cave as Mary's home; the identification rests on continuous local tradition traceable to at least the 4th century. In 2009 the Israel Antiquities Authority separately uncovered a 1st-century two-room house on an adjacent property, supporting that Nazareth was inhabited at the time, though not tied specifically to this site.
On a modern map
Further reading
More sites
Capstone Bible is a free interactive study app — a map of every place in this library, a zoomable timeline of biblical and church history, the Bible text with every name in it linked to its article, reading plans and personal notes.
Open Capstone Bible