EMMAUSS-NICOPOLIS

The town of Emmaus was described in ancient times as "a place of delightful waters and a pleasant sojourn". The very name Emmaus comes from the Hebrew word Hammot, meaning "springs" or "warm waters". The first mention of Emmaus is in the first book of the Maccabees, written around 100 BC, 65 years after the Battle of the Maccabees, in which Judas Maccabaeus won a major victory over Nicanor's Greek troops.

Around AD 30, the town of Emmaus, destroyed by the Roman invasion, became a simple village and the supposed meeting place of the risen Jesus and his disciples. In the ^3rd century, the town was rebuilt by the Romans, and became a city under the embassy of Julius the African. It then took on a new name: Nicopolis, "the city of Victory".

In Byzantine times, Emmaus-Nicopolis became an important episcopal see. Destroyed by Persian and Arab invasions in the ^7th century AD, the sanctuary was rebuilt by the Crusaders in the ^12th century, but when they left, the Christian presence faded. It wasn't until 1878 that the Carmelites acquired the land and pilgrimages resumed.

Excavations carried out in 1880 and 1924 continue today. They uncovered what remains of the two imposing Byzantine basilicas with beautiful mosaics and a baptistery, as well as the ruins of the Crusader chapel. Since 1993, the Church has entrusted the management of the site to the French Catholic Community of the Beatitudes.