Kursi is the Arabic name of the valley whose western side touches the lake shore, and where remains of a Jewish fishing village from the time of the Mishnah and the Talmud was found, and on whose eastern side, at the foot of the Golan Heights, a monastery was discovered. The monastery was found by accident during road construction after the Six-Day War.
The monastery measuring 123 x 145 m, is the largest in Israel. Together with its church, it was built in the fifth century CE and was apparently damaged during the Persian invasion of 614 CE. The church was restored, but abandoned in the eighth century, never to be rebuilt. The mosaic floor unearthed here depicts animal life––roosters, geese, doves, cormorants and fish, some of which were purposely defaced in antiquity. Plant designs include citrons, figs, pomegranates and clusters of grapes. An inscription in Greek adorns the floor of the baptistery.
According to the New Testament, Jesus disembarked here and met a man plagued by unclean spirits. Jesus cast out the unclean spirits into a herd of pigs grazing nearby, which stampeded into the lake and drowned (Mark 5:21). Versions of the story also appear in Matthew 8:28–33 and Luke 8: 26–39). The Gospels do not mention a specific site for the miracle, but early Christian tradition marked it here.
In 1980 a small chapel was discovered near a promontory, whose apse was incorporated into a cave. Christian tradition identifies the cave as the place where Jesus met and healed the man with the unclean spirits.
A bench in the park, known as “the magic bench” attracts many visitors, some of whom say special wishes they have made while sitting there have come true. |