Tiberias, Israel, the largest town of Galilee, sits on the lakeshore. It's a vibrant modern resort that attracts tourists year-round. Tiberias is famous for its natural hot springs where you can soak in thermal pools just as others have done for centuries.
At the Hammat Tiberias National Park, south of the city center, the Ernest Lehman Museum contains the remains of a sixth-century Turkish bathhouse. Parts of a fourth-century synagogue are also visible, including its beautiful mosaic floor. In the city center stands the Archaeological Gardens, where excavations of the Byzantine and Crusader periods can be seen.
Tiberias is a pilgrimage center for Jews who pray at the tombs of Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (also known as the Rambam or Maimonides), Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Meir Baal ha Ness—three of the great sages of the Jewish rabbinical tradition.
Be sure to have a dinner of St. Peter's fish, fresh from the lake, at one of the restaurants along the waterfront promenade. Ferries arrive and depart from Tiberias, crossing the lake to Ein Gev.
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