Kafr Cana occupies a special place in the hearts of Christians as it was here,
according to the Gospel of St. John (2:1-11), that Jesus performed his first
miracle while attending a wedding feast, when he transformed water into wine.
The Franciscans believe that the church they built in 1881 stands over
the site where the wedding feast was held because the crypt, which you may
enter, is built around a dried-up well and a large rock with a scooped-out
hollow obviously intended for washing. The church stands over the ruins of a
6th-century Byzantine building that was either a church or a synagogue. A
replica of the wine jars in use in Jesus' time rests above the slab of rock in
the crypt.
The Franciscans supervise the Chapel of St. Bartholomew at the northern
end of the village. St. Bartholomew was the Nathanael of the Gospel of St. John
and was a native of Cana.
Other churches in this compact little village include two supervised by
Greek Catholics and the Greek Orthodox.
The countryside along Road No. 77 rolls past a number of Arab villages until, 8
km. later, the road leads up to the Golani Crossroads (Tzomet Golani). Tiberias
is straight ahead, 15 km. away, while Afula is to the right and Zefat to the
left. The Golani Memorial and Museum, in honour of one of Israel's most famous
brigades, is located next to the junction. The remaining part of the journey is
covered in Route No. 11, from Tel Aviv to Tiberias.