First published: 14/02/20.

Ilya Burlak 0

Ein Karem

Ein Karem (On tentative list)

Ein Karem by Ilya Burlak

My visit to Ein Karem was not too extensive in November of 2019. Yad Vashem is nearby, as is Abbell Synagogue of Hadassah Ein Karem with windows painted by Marc Chagall - the two main points of interest that I planned for one afternoon. I had about an extra hour in my schedule, and decided to drive to the core of the village to take a quick look.

That part of Ein Karem is centered on the Church of St John the Baptist, with a fairly impressive tiled interior (although covered in scaffolds at the time) and its own Nativity Cave underneath. The church itself may be worth a visit but the streets around it did not feel overly special to me. A nice cup of tea and the short wait to be served in a local confectionery store, during which I observed locals making purchases, left a more lasting impression. Other points of interest, such as Mary's Spring and a few other religious complexes in the area, did not fit into my allotted time. It is more than likely that I did not attempt to see enough to form an educated opinion, but my short visit did not lead me to consider the village's OUV to be significant.

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