Nazareth, in southern Galilee, is the town where Mary and Joseph eventually settled after fleeing Bethlehem. Far enough north that it was outside the realm of the powerful Herodians, Nazareth would have been a safe place for Jesus and his family. References to Nazareth occur throughout the four Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, and all agree that Jesus was from there. "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the prophets wrote: he is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth." (John 1:45)

Despite agreement about Nazareth as the childhood home of Jesus, it received very little attention in early Christian times. The first Christians focussed instead on the Christ of the Resurrection, not the boy from Nazareth. But, by the 4^th Century, stories about the childhood of Jesus had become popular, and Nazareth became a place of pilgrimage. Important sites included Mary’s house, the place of the annunciation, and the synagogue that Jesus had attended. Today, the main attraction is the large Basilica of the Annunciation, built on the site traditionally identified as the place of the annunciation to Mary by the angel Gabriel.