The traditional hillside of the Sermon on the Mount, rising gently above the north-west shore of the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum. A church built in 1938 crowns it, and the natural slope forms a kind of amphitheatre facing the lake. The Gospels give no precise location — Matthew simply says 'he went up on a mountainside' — so this is a fitting, long-honoured setting rather than an identified spot.
- Where it is
- Hillside above Tabgha, north-west Sea of Galilee
- Scripture
- Matthew 5:1
What the evidence confirmsA gentle, natural amphitheatre of a hillside close to Capernaum matches the Gospel's 'he went up on a mountainside' and has been honoured as the site for centuries.
What it does not proveMatthew names no particular hill; the location is traditional, chosen for its fit and its view, not fixed by evidence.
Sources & further reading