Bethlehem Environmental History and Travel Guide: Tourism

Bethlehem Environmental History and Travel Guide. Tourism. Bethlehem is famous for being the place of Jesus Christ's birth and has been celebrated in Christmas carols and hymns through the centuries, but the bustle of the modern city can be a surprise for some visitors. The major tourist attraction here is the Church of the Nativity, and for anyone religious or otherwise who has ever celebrated Christmas, it really is top of the things to do list. Afterwards, two of the best places to visit in the surrounding countryside are Shepherd's Field, for the panoramas swooping across the hills, and Mar Saba Monastery, with its domes that seem to have sprung organically from the sheer cliff face. Bethlehem may no longer be the 'little town' of Christmas carols, but you don't have to go far in what is now a pulsing city to see the stories of Mary and Joseph, stars, mangers and a saviour hardwired into every paving stone, street and church. Like Jerusalem, every Christian denomination Lutheran, Syriac, Catholic, Orthodox is present here and the city positively hums with activity, its winding streets congested with traffic and its main square filled with snap-happy pilgrims scrambling to keep up with their guides. But there is plenty to see and do for even for the nonreligious. There’s a lively Old City and bazaar and numerous sites around town, including the epic Mar Saba Monastery. Many tourists also come for the street art particularly several stencils by British street artist Banksy that have turned the Israeli Separation Wall that now divides Bethlehem from Jerusalem into a vast canvas. Read more