The Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor

Luke begins his account of the Transfiguration with a simple line: “Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray” (Luke 9:28). Only a short time later, those three apostles would witness Christ appearing to them in glory, joined by Moses and Elijah. This event is recounted in the three Synoptic Gospels as well as countless works of Christian art.

The mountain on which the Transfiguration occurred is not identified by name in the Gospels. Although ancient tradition has favored Mount Hermon and Mount Tabor as likely candidates, numerous mountains throughout the Holy Land have been offered as potential locations. In the middle of the fourth century, Bishop Cyril of Jerusalem indicated that he believed Mount Tabor to be the most likely location due to its relative proximity to center of Jesus’ ministry. (For reference, Mount Tabor is only 4.5 miles from Nazareth.) Mount Tabor, which has a prominence of nearly 1,100 feet, rises alone above the expansive and fertile Jezreel Valley, which forms a natural border between the hills of Galilee and the mountains of Samaria.

Within the tradition endorsed by Cyril, multiple churches commemorating the Transfiguration have been built atop Mount Tabor. While a Byzantine church was constructed in the fourth century and another church was constructed by the Crusaders in the twelfth century, a Turkish army destroyed all religious buildings on Tabor in the middle of the thirteenth century.

A new series of buildings was begun on Tabor in the late nineteenth century, with both Catholic and Greek Orthodox structures divided into separate complexes. The Catholic structures atop Tabor are under the care of the Franciscans, who occupy a monastery adjacent to the church. The Church of the Transfiguration, completed in 1924, stands atop the ruins of the previous church buildings. Ruins are not only visible at the base of the church and in the crypts, but dot much of the tree-covered mountaintop.

As pilgrims enter the church, they pass between two towers: one dedicated to Moses and the other to Elijah. The simply-decorated church itself is relatively narrow, long, and tall, inspiring pilgrims with a sense of upward motion. A golden mosaic of the Transfiguration is centered high above the altar, and a glass panel was placed to reflect the light of the sun, illuminating the mosaic, on the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 6th). The crypts beneath the church contain the remains of three small grottoes, one dedicated to each Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.

Today countless pilgrims include Mount Tabor in their visits to the Holy Land, ascending Mount Tabor in the footsteps of the Christ, Peter, James, and John, standing where the three apostles stood as they witnessed Christ transfigured with their own waking eyes.