Tabgha

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Church at Tabgha

Tabgha (Hebrew עין שבע Eyn Sava‘), a town situated on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel, is the traditional site of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes in Christianity (Mark 6:30-46). Its name is derived from the Greek name Heptapegon ("seven springs"). St. Jerome referred to Tabgha as "the solitude" (=eremos).

The earliest building at Tabgha was a small chapel built in the 4th century AD. This was probably the shrine described by the pilgrim Egeria at the end of the 4th century:

Mosaic of the loaves and fishes, Tabgha

"In the same place (not far from Capernaum) facing the Sea of Galilee is a well watered land in which lush grasses grow, with numerous trees and palms. Nearby are seven springs which provide abundant water. In this fruitful garden Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish."The Miracle Church at Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee, Bargil Pixner, Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 48, No. 4 (Dec., 1985) , pp. 196-206

The large monastery and a church were built in the fifth century. While some date the destruction of the site to the time of the Arab conquest, the church was most likely destroyed in 614 during the Persian invasion, for already in 670 CE, Bishop Arculf had reported that only columns from the church remained.

In 1932, after nearly 1300 years of "solitude", two German archaeologists (Mader and Schneider) uncovered a number of the Byzantine church's walls and mosaics.

In the 1980s, after further excavations, the church was finally restored to its Byzantine form, incorporating portions of the original mosaics.

Today, the church and surrounding land are property of the Catholic Association for the Holy Land whose head is the Archbishop of Cologne. The site is further maintained by monks from the Hagia Maria Sion Abbey, also known as Dormition Church, which is located on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem.

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