It is mentioned in the Bible, here are the remains of a Hellenistic city and a Byzantine church, but also a real archaeological park: all this is Mount Garizim. From the road leading to the summit, you can see the city of Nablus, which rises on its slopes. The landscape one enters on the way up is an invitation to learn more about this place. Br ALESSANDRO CONIGLIO, ofm Professor Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem "Mount Garizim is located right in the center of the Holy Land, in what was the ancient region of Samaria, today's West Bank, Palestine. It is a mountain about 880 meters high and it is located in the southern part of a valley, a long valley, in which today there is the city of Nablus." For the Samaritans, Garizim is still a sacred mountain today. Br ALESSANDRO CONIGLIO, ofm Professor Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem "In the Samaritan tradition, Mount Garizim is considered more sacred than Jerusalem. In the Samaritan Pentateuch - the only Holy Scripture of the Samaritans, which corresponds more or less to the first five books of the Bible, to our Mosaic Pentateuch - they mentioned Mount Garizim 13 times. That is, more times than in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament that has come down to us. For them, Mount Garizim corresponds, for example, to the mountain where Abraham should have sacrificed his son Isaac". Archaeological excavations on Mount Garizim began in 1982. The findings belong to the Persian, Byzantine and Hellenistic times. ILAN COHEN Director of the Archaeological Park of Mount Garizim "The Mount Garizim is a Archaeological site that preserves artifacts from the Second Temple time and largely from the Samaritan tradition. It is also a biblical site." Samaritans go up to Mount Garizim to celebrate their feasts. ILAN COHEN Director of the Archaeological Park of Mount Garizim "Three times a year, the Samaritan community makes a pilgrimage to the Mount: on the feasts of Succot, Shavuot and Pesach, they come here. This is one of the holy places where you can see the sacrifice of the Samaritans. It is the sacrifice most similar to what - according to what we know - the 'children of Israel' did in the Second Temple." On the Mount there are the remains of a Byzantine-era church dedicated to the Mother of God, the Theotókos. Br ALESSANDRO CONIGLIO, ofm Professor Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem "Around the fourth century the Samaritans were experiencing a renaissance of their own. At that time, the Byzantine emperor Zeno decided to erase all traces of the Samaritan cult and to build on the top of Mount Garizim a church dedicated to the Mother of God, the Theotókos." Although little known and off the classic pilgrimage routes, Mount Garizim is a significant biblical site. It still holds treasures and traditions of the different faiths of this land. Read More