Few archaeological sites combine Jewish heritage and Christian significance as powerfully as ancient Capernaum. Overlooking the Sea of Galilee, its impressive limestone and basalt remains tell a story spanning centuries, from Jesus’s ministry to the flourishing village in Late Antiquity. Through careful excavation and scientific analysis, archaeologists have uncovered not one, but two synagogues – one built atop the other – offering tangible evidence of both the synagogue where Jesus taught and the continued worship in this fishing village through the Byzantine period.

The Gospel Narratives

The Gospel accounts frequently place Jesus teaching in Capernaum’s synagogue. Mark 1:21-28 describes Jesus teaching and performing an exorcism here on a Sabbath. Luke 7:1-10 mentions a Roman centurion who built this synagogue for the Jewish community. The famous Bread of Life discourse (John 6:59) also takes place in Capernaum’s synagogue. These accounts present the synagogue as a central institution in Capernaum’s religious life, where Jesus regularly taught and performed miracles.

Capernaum Lost – and Rediscovered

Despite its significance as Jesus’s “own town,” Capernaum was gradually abandoned and forgotten after the Muslim conquest. For centuries, its exact location remained unknown. Only the Gospels and the ancient pilgrims’ accounts hinted to its whereabouts along the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

The site’s rediscovery began in 1838 when American biblical scholar Edward Robinson identified the ruins of Tell Hum with ancient Capernaum.

A Synagogue Discovered, But Not the Right One

Already Robinson in his survey of Capernaum proposed to identify the remains of a large Limestone building in Capernaum as its synagogue. In 1866, British Captain Charles Wilson conducted the first systematic exploration of the site, clarifying that the magnificent white structure was a synagogue in antiquity. However, as dating methods improved through stratigraphical and architectural analysis, it became clear that the “white” synagogue was built centuries after the time of Jesus. So where was the First Century synagogue of Capernaum?

The First-Century Foundations

To track the first-century synagogue of Capernaum, the archaeologists conducted several probes, digging beneath the floor of the impressive white limestone synagogue. Indeed, 50 cm beneath, archaeologists discovered remains of an earlier structure built of local black basalt stone. This earlier building’s foundations, floors, and pottery fragments dated to the first century CE, the time of Jesus.

The decision to build the later synagogue directly above the earlier one seems to reflect the common ancient practice of maintaining sacred spaces. This architectural choice preserved the sanctity and memory of the earlier structure, and perhaps it was done to indicate the community’s awareness of its connection to Jesus’s ministry.

What Can Be Seen of Capernaum’s First-Century Synagogue Today?

Despite the significance of this discovery, the Franciscans, who maintain Capernaum, covered most of the remains of the first-century synagogue with cement. Only in the Southeastern corner of the “white” synagogue, the remains of one of the entries into the First-century synagogue is visible. All the rest is covered up. There are also a few black basalt columns that most likely were used in the first-century synagogue, set as markers in the adjacent parking lot.

Perhaps in the future, the Franciscans will re-expose more of the first-century synagogue of Capernaum, providing more remains of Jesus and his ministry to visitors and pilgrims.

A tour of Capernaum can be integrated in a day tour to the Galilee.