At Cana, just outside of Nazareth, Jesus entered public life at a wedding feast by performing the first miracle – the changing of water into wine (John 2:1-11). The events are marked at the Wedding Church, built by the Franciscans in the nineteenth century over ruins believed to date to Jesus’ day.

Some say the wedding Jesus attended might have been held in a synagogue here. One tantalizing piece of evidence is a mosaic whose Aramaic inscription is typical of synagogues. John 2:6 says that the water that Jesus turned into wine was “the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing,” and was stored in jars of stone – a material believed in those days to maintain purity so the water could serve for ablutions before prayer.

A modern-day tradition is for couples to renew their wedding vows or propose marriage in Cana, with the Wedding Church as an unforgettable backdrop.