Tzipori (Sepphoris), the traditional birthplace of Mary, was an important city in the hills of Lower Galilee, west of Nazareth. Herod conquered it in 37 BCE, but 33 years later it was destroyed by the Romans following rebellions there.

Herod’s son Antipas restored Tzipori as “the ornament of all Galilee.” It was the seat of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish high court) and a preferred residence for Talmudic sages until the mid-fourth century CE.

Archeologists have found evidence of a devastating earthquake around 363, but again the city was rebuilt and settled by an unusual mix of Christians and Jews in the fifth century. Remains of the Crusader church commemorating St. Ann can still be seen, as well as a Crusader fortress, rebuilt in the 18th century by the Bedouin ruler of the Galilee.

Visitors can explore a 4,500-seat Roman theater; a restored third-century villa in which a mosaic depicts scenes from the life of wine god Dionysus and the so-called “Mona Lisa of the Galilee”; a synagogue with a restored mosaic floor; and a 250-meter-long, first-century CE underground water system.