Tiberias is without peer in Israel as a water sports
playground, especially in spring, autumn and winter. It is situated on the
shores of the Sea of Galilee, Israel's only fresh-water lake. The newer part of
the city, with modern hotels and palm-lined streets, roosts some 450 m. above
the older part, where black basalt ruins of Moslem and Christian conquerors
have a dignity all their own near the water's edge.
Recently, the older part was renovated and today boasts
three hotels, commercial centres and a two-kilometre-long promenade. People are
early risers because there is so much to enjoy in the cool of the first light.
As the sun rises across the waters over the distant Golan Heights, fishermen
cast their nets from bobbing boats, and truck drivers set off with their frozen
catch for the markets further inland.
Before long the smooth-pebbled waterfront is alive with the
roar of speedboats, water-skiers and the more restful kayaks and rowing boats.
You may wish to soak up the sun on rafts anchored further out or hire fishing
and skin-diving equipment at one of the many beaches with full facilities.
The acme of pleasure, however, is to lunch on St. Peter's
fish, served up on platters at open-air restaurants on the waterfront. This is
the same species that doubled as a money box when, according to the Gospel of
St. Matthew, St. Peter paid his taxes with a shekel found in the mouth of a
fish.
There is a more serious side to Tiberias. It is one of the
four cities holy to Judaism (the others are Jerusalem, Hebron and Zefat), and
it is the last resting place of many a famous rabbi. The cooler hours of the
afternoon are the best for a walk to the old cemetery to see the tombs of
Maimonides and Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakkai. A bus takes you further uphill to the
shrine of Rabbi Akiva. Then to Hamat, only 20 minutes south along the lakeside
by foot, to see what is left of the earliest synagogues near the therapeutic
wonders of the Hot Springs. Adjacent to the springs, up the hill, is the tomb
of Rabbi Meir Ba'al Haness.
For sites around and about the Sea of Galilee take Route No.
17 for a circular tour of the lake. Read the tail-end of Route No. 11 for sites
lying above Tiberias Route No. 20 leads you north for many interesting hours of
sight-seeing.
Location: the shorefront and city are 210 m. below sea level, while the newer,
western suburbs rise on the mountainside to a height of 249 m. above sea level.
Climate: hot and dry in the summer but a haven in winter when
mild temperatures prevail.