When we picture John, it is usually by the banks of the Jordan, against a desert backdrop, baptizing the multitudes and, of course, Jesus. But where was it that John “grew and became strong in spirit until he appeared publicly to Israel” (Luke 1:80-2:1)? By combining age-old traditions with recent archaeological discoveries, you can spend wonderful hours finding out.

John was born in a “town in the hill country in Judah” (Luke 1:39), which for almost 16 centuries Christians have identified as Ein Karem, southwest of Jerusalem. Here, you can visit the Church of John the Baptist, which marks John’s birthplace, and  walk the charming village streets up to the Church of the Visitation, where Mary met her kinswoman Elizabeth, John’s mother, when John “leaped in her womb” (Luke 1:40-55).

Nearby, you can explore the picturesque Monastery of St. John in the Desert, built around a spring on a wooded slope. Here you’ll learn that in the Bible, “desert” means uncultivated land where shepherds herded their flocks. That’s how the archaeologist Dr. Shimon Gibson believes John spent his youth. On the wall of a cave near here, Gibson found a carving that resembles John, with his “clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist...” (Mark 1:6). An incised cross indicates the cave may have been sacred to Christians. Perhaps here, Gibson says, Elizabeth hid John, as ancient traditions teach, to save him from Herod massacre of the region’s baby boys (Matt. 2:16).  

To round out your “John the Baptist day,” enjoy a shady walk through orchards and spice beds at the old village of Sataf, which the 18th century English Christian traveler Richard Pococke called “the village of St. John.”