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As out of place as a pin-stripe suited gent at a teenage rave, the dignified little mosque looks threatened and lost squeezed between some gaudy shops and a brusque concrete supermarket. Built by Daher al-Omar in the mid-18th century, the mosque is one of the very few buildings in Tiberias that predates 1948. It is generally held that its construction was partly paid for by the town's Jewish community, presumably grateful to the sheikh for being permitted to return.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
This used to be Tiberias' central square, with a mosque at its centre.
This was a small Scottish colony during the 19th century. It now houses a boutique hotel and a church.
Hidden along the northern promenade, it is worth looking out for the lovely Franciscan church built by 12th-century Crusaders. The Muslims converted it into a mosque, and you can make out an area of uneven stone on the southern wall filling in the hole where a mihrab (prayer niche indicating the direction of Mecca) was carved. Later, the Turks used the building as a caravanserai before it was rebuilt as a church in 1870.
The Citadel
The Turkish citadel was the highest point in the old town. It now houses an art gallery.
Dona Gracia Nasi was a wealthy 16th-century Jewish woman. In 1558, the Ottoman Empire granted her control of the Tiberias region in exchange for an increase in tax revenue. She began to rebuild the abandoned villages in the area, hoping that Jewish refugees would be able to settle there. However, she died not too long afterwards in 1569. She is seen as an early predecessor of the Zionist movement, and all the more notable because female leaders were rare at the time. This museum is dedicated to her story. There is also a hotel located next to the museum, if you need a place to stay.
Showing water level and shape of the Sea of Galilee.