Church of the Visitation, Jerusalem

According to Christian tradition, Ein Kerem was the birthplace and home of John the Baptist. This picturesque village on the western side of Jerusalem is dotted with several impressive churches and monasteries associated with his life. Among them, the 17th-century Franciscan Church of Saint John the Baptist stands out, along with the striking two-tiered Church of the Visitation, completed in 1955 and designed by Antonio Barluzzi, the architect behind the Dominus Flevit Sanctuary and the Chapel of the Flagellation.

The Church of the Visitation commemorates the moment when the Virgin Mary visited Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, who was pregnant at the time – an event depicted in mosaic on the church's facade. Inside, visitors can explore a natural grotto, believed to be where Elizabeth sought refuge with her infant son to escape King Herod's order to massacre all first-born sons. The courtyard walls are adorned with tiled panels inscribed with the "Magnificat", Mary's hymn of thanks, written in 42 languages.

At the foot of the hill below the church lies a small, abandoned mosque, beside which flows the spring known as the Spring of the Virgin, after which the village is named.