Just off Tiberias’ restaurant-lined Sea of Galilee promenade is the little-known Church of St. Peter, * its thick stone walls providing cool respite and tranquility.

The walls of this church, built around 1100, widen from the altar to the back like a boat, reminding visitors that Peter fished in the lake just a few steps away. In 1757, the Franciscans were able to refurbish the church.  In 1945 a memorial to the Free Polish Army, which fought here in World War II, was erected in the courtyard. More recent restoration exposed the original medieval masonry. A beautiful mosaic in the apse depicts Peter in a boat, and the words of Jesus’ charge that Peter was the rock against which the Gates of Hades would not prevail (Matt. 16:18).   

*The church opens on weekdays at 6:00 P.M. and on Sundays at 8:30 A.M. for Mass, when a short visit is possible.