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Traditional Site

Kursi

KUR-see · Modern Kursi National Park, Golan Heights · 32.8261° N, 35.6504° E

Kursi, on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, is traditionally identified as the "country of the Gerasenes/Gadarenes" where Jesus cast demons into a herd of pigs (Mark 5:1-20 and parallels). By the Byzantine period the site had become a major pilgrimage destination marked by a large monastery and church.

Archaeology

Excavations in 1971-1974 revealed the largest Byzantine-period monastery complex yet found in Israel — a 5th-century basilica church with mosaic floors, a baptistry, and monks' quarters. The identification of Kursi with the Gospel's "country of the Gadarenes/Gerasenes/Gergesenes" is scholarly-debated: the Gospel manuscripts themselves disagree on the place name, and "Gergesa"/Kursi became the favored harmonizing identification only from the Byzantine period onward.

Ruins of the 5th-century Byzantine monastery church at Kursi, eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee
Ruins of the 5th-century Byzantine monastery church at Kursi, eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee — source & licence
Byzantine arch at Kursi National Park with the Golan Hills behind
Byzantine arch at Kursi National Park with the Golan Hills behind — source & licence

On a modern map

Kursi today

Further reading

Reflect

At Kursi, Jesus crossed the lake for one tormented man everyone else avoided — who is the one person worth crossing for?

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