“And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying: This is a desert place, and the hour is now past: send away the multitudes, that going into the towns, they may buy themselves victuals.

But Jesus said to them, They have no need to go: give you them to eat. They answered him: We have not here, but five loaves, and two fishes. He said to them: Bring them hither to me. And when he had commanded the multitudes to sit down upon the grass, he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up what remained, twelve full baskets of fragments.” (Matthew 14: 15-20, Luke 9: 10-17, Mark 6: 30-44)

The Church of the Multiplication (Loaves and Fishes) is located in Tabgha on the North West shores of the Sea of Galilee to mark the miraculous of feeding five thousand people mentioned in the New Testament.

The first Church of Multiplication was a small and simple shrine (15.5m X 9.5m) founded in the 4th century in 350 AD. According to the Spanish pilgrim Egeria, who visited the Church in 383, the 4th century Church contained the stone on which the Lord placed the bread and has been used as an altar.
It is possible to see the remains of this ancient Church through the glass cover located to the right of the altar at the present Church.

At 419 an earthquake hit the area and destroyed all the churches and houses in Tabgha.
Around the year 450, a much larger Church was built upon the ruins of the first church. It was decorated with exquisite floor mosaic of basket of loaves, fishes, birds and animals.

The Church was destroyed by the Persians in 614 and was buried beneath a thick layer of silt, thus, the exact site of the church was lost. It was only discovered some 1300 years later.

The German Catholic Society (German Palestine Association) acquired the site in 1888 which has been in the care of the Benedictines since 1939 and the first archeological survey was carried out in 1892. The site was excavated for about 40 years, resulted in the discovery of the mosaic floor of the earlier church.
The current Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes was consecrated in 1982 on the foundations of the 5th century Church, designed by the architects Anton Goergen and Fritz Baumann. They incorporated everything that remained of the original church.

The Church has central nave flanked by two aisles. A sacred block of limestone is located under the altar table as the venerated stone. The main highlight of the Church of the Multiplication is the portrayal of the two fishes and the basket of loaves in front of the altar.

More photos of Sea of Galilee sites are available at HolyLand Photo Gallery

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