Wedding Church at Cana

Wedding Church at Cana
כנסיית החתונה
كنيسة الزفاف في كنا
Location	Kafr Kanna
Country	Israel
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church

Internal View

The Wedding Church at Cana^[1][2][3] (Arabic: كنيسة الزفاف في كنا; Hebrew: כנסיית החתונה) or simply Wedding Church, also Franciscan Wedding Church, is a religious building of the Catholic Church located in the central part of the town of Kafr Kanna (Cana),^{[4][self-published source]} in Lower Galilee, located in northern Israel.^[5] It is dedicated to the weddings of Christianity. Its name commemorates the event of the Wedding at Cana from the Gospel of John, thought by some Christians to have taken place on the site, during which Jesus performed his first miracle, by turning water into wine at the request or behest of Mother Mary.

The Church is owned by the Custody of the Holy Land, part of the Franciscan order in the Catholic Church.^[6] The current church was built circa 1881, and expanded from 1897-1905, following efforts by the Franciscans to acquire the site between 1641 and 1879, when acquisition was completed.^[6] Twentieth-century archaeological excavations indicated that, before the current church building, the site housed a Jewish synagogue in the fourth and fifth centuries, and tombs under the rule of the Byzantine Empire in the fifth and sixth centuries.^[6]

In 1901 the current facade was built, and September 30, 1906, Bishop Angelo Roncalli consecrated the altar. In the second half of the 1990s, the Holy Land began an extensive renovation of the church, completed in 1999.

See also

• Marriage at Cana or Wedding at Cana, the Biblical story associated with this site
• The Wedding at Cana, a 1563 painting by the Italian artist Paolo Veronese (1528–88), depicting the event
• Roman Catholicism in Israel

References

1. Lonely Planet; Robinson, Daniel; Crowcroft, Orlando; Maxwell, Virginia; Walker, Jenny (2015-06-01). Lonely Planet Israel & the Palestinian Territories. Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781743605479.
2. Bailey, Betty (1999-01-01). Living Stones Pilgrimage: With the Christians of the Holy Land. A&C Black. ISBN 9780304704668.
3. McCormick, James R. (2000-01-01). Jerusalem and the Holy Land: The First Ecumenical Pilgrim's Guide. iUniverse. ISBN 9781583487365.
4. Jerjian, George (2014-03-25). Seeking God: A Pilgrimage in the Holy Land. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 9781493186990.
5. Wilson, Samantha (2011-01-01). Israel. Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 9781841623627.
6. Custodia Terræ Sanctæ (Custody of the Holy Land). "Cana". Retrieved 2018-09-14.

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