Mount of Beatitudes

Tradition identifies this tranquil hillside as the site of Jesus' most comprehensive teaching, recorded in the New Testament as the Sermon on the Mount: "And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain; and when he was set, his disciples came unto him. And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven...'" (Matthew 5:3). In 2000, Pope John Paul II celebrated mass with some 100,000 faithful a bit higher up the hill.