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The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish is a Roman Catholic church in Tabgha, Israel. It sits on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum.
The Church of the Multiplication commemorates the miracles of the Feeding of the Multitude, in which Jesus used minimal amounts of bread and fish to feed thousands of followers. It’s administered by the Benedictines.
History of the Church of the Multiplication
The first church on the site was a Byzantine church constructed around 350 by Joseph of Tiberias (c. 285-c. 356). The church was enlarged around 480 by Patriarch Martyrius of Jerusalem (d. 486). It was destroyed by the Persians in 614 and the site was lost for nearly 1,300 years.
In 1888, the German Catholic Society for Palestine acquired the site and began excavations in 1932 under Fr. Evaristus Mader (1881-1949). They discovered mosaic floors from the 5th century church as well as foundations from the 4th century church. They later constructed the current church on the same floor plan as the 5th century church. It was consecrated on May 23, 1982, by Cardinal Joseph Höffner (1906-1987), the Archbishop of Cologne in Germany.
Current Church
The Church of the Multiplication is entered through a small courtyard with an olive tree in the center. There’s also a pond with fish representing the Feeding of the Multitude. A gift shop sits off the courtyard.
The interior of the church has a nave and two aisles. The mosaic floors of the aisles and transepts are original to the 5th century church. Some mosaics depict a Nilotic landscape, featuring plants and animals native to Egypt. Other mosaics depict plants and animals native to the Galilee.
Under the altar is a block of limestone discovered during excavations. The pilgrim Egeria was the first person to describe it as the “stone on which the Lord placed the bread”. In front of the stone is a mosaic of a basket filled with four loaves of bread and a fish on each side.
