Today, Cana of Galilee is called Kfar-Cana. At the time when the Jews were conquering the Promised Land, Cana was one of the villages that belonged to the Territory inhabited by the Canaanites. When the Jews divided their new land by lot, it became the portion which fell to the sons of Zebulon. Scholars have identified it as Et-Kazim which is mentioned in the book of Joshua (19:13).

The village became famous for the miracle which Jesus performed there by changing water into wine at the marriage feast. This is narrated by St. John in his Gospel (John 2:11).

To the place name ÒCanaÓ the Gospel adds Òof Galilee, to distinguish it from another place with the same name. That one is part of the tribe of Asher (Joshua 19:28). It is located about 12 kilometers south of Tyre. Another place called Khirbet Qana lies a few kilometers north of Kfar Cana, and has been considered sometimes by pilgrims the biblical Cana. In consequence of that, you may find guides and scholars contending that this second place is the biblical Cana.

In past centuries, as well as today, Cana of Galilee lies on the way which passes from Nazareth to Sephoris. St. Jerome writes about this. He tells how his disciple, St. Paula, visited Cana when she went from Nazareth to Capharnaum. She, together with her daughter, wrote to Marcella and stated that not far from Nazareth they visited Cana where Jesus changed water into wine and from there they continued by Tabor. (Epist. XXXI).

Flavius Josephus, the historian also wrote about Cana. He says it was a strategic location between Sephoris and Tiberias (Vita, 16). The pilgrims who visited Cana in the following centuries say that it was an equal distance from Sephoris and Nazareth. Examples are Theodosius in 530 and the Anonymous Pilgrim from Piacenza in 570.

In the Hodoeporikon of St. Willibald (323-726) we read that a large church could be seen. There was one of the six water jars which the Lord had filled with water which he changed into wine on the altar there.

St. Louis, King of France, during the second half of the 13th century, traveled from St. JohnÕs in Acre and went through Sephoris. He reached Cana of Galilee and from there Mount Tabor and then reached Nazareth. He did all this in one single day.

A Franciscan, Niccolo` da Poggibonsi, in 1347, wrote that Òthe village of Cana of Galilee is not large . . . within it there is a church where Christ changed water into wine. The Poggibonsi friar also spoke about a spring from which water was drawn which was used to fill the water jars in which Jesus changed the water into wine. (Baldi Ench. N. 258).

In 1551-64 Farther Boniface da Ragusa found the church in ruins and the Moslems were showing pilgrims the place where the miracle took place.

In 1641 the Franciscans were able to purchase a house near the shrine. Attempts to acquire the shrine were absolutely useless. Only much later, in 1879, thanks to the support of the governor of Damascus, Midath Pascia, did they succeed in building a wall. This wall encircled the entire property next to the shrine. Little by little they succeeded in purchasing the property.

By the end of 1881, it was possible for them to build a chapel. The construction was carved out with all haste, as Fr. Meistermann says, because the land of Jesus was well known even without previous archaeological excavations (Guida di Terra Santa, Firenze, 1925, p. 553).

In 1901, since the existing chapel was insufficient for both the needs of the parish and the activities of pilgrims it was decided to build another church. Thus, the present church was built.

Today, the Custody of the Holy Land has undertaken important reconstruction at the shrine of Cana. The project is now already in progress so that it will be completed for the Great Jubilee of 2,000. It will be a building for divine worship with two levels: the lower one will be for the use of the shrine and its activities, there can be found the architectural remains of past ages. Pilgrims and visitors can view and ponder them there. The upper level will be reserved for the parish functions and activities.

Before beginning the restructuring project, it was decided to have a thorough exploration of what lay underground. This has likewise been done in other undertakings of this type. The responsibility was given to Father Eugene Alliata, a professor of Archaeology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum of the Flagellation at Jerusalem.

The campaign of excavation is not yet complete. But, presently, Fr. Alliata has found remains of buildings. (see Franciscan Custody's Web site) Among them is an apse with tombs which go back to the fourth and fifth century.

The apse is turned to the north, while the tomb is on an east-west axis. Fr. Alliata, always most prudent in his affirmations, is convinced that we truly may be involved with a Christian worship building. It is confirmation of the antiquity of that shrine.

Besides the apse of the Byzantine Church, the Franciscan archaeologist discovered ruins of dwellings in use between the first and fourth centuries. They were in the area beneath the present sacristy. He also was able to conclude that the small cistern of stone in the crypt goes back to the first century and was bordered by a pavement with large slabs.

By means of this excavation still underway, Father Alliata sheds new light also on the area of the well known Aramaic inscription. It is situated in the atrium of the porch of the synagogue discovered by Father Stanislaus Loffreda, O.F.M., in 1969. In the center of the atrium there is a cistern.

In regard to this synagogue, Fr. Bagatti wrote: The building would have been changed into a church, when the owners, mindful of the good deed done for them by the Lord, would have donated their house to change it into a place of worship. In that way it would have become a Judeo-Christian synagogue and then later on a church. (Antichi village Cristiani di Galilea, Jerusalem, p. 42).

So we now have also the shrine of Cana as an archaeological witness that takes us back to the first century. In that way, it fills in the empty space of the first four centuries.

According to Father Bagatti, the village of Cana was quite large during the Roman period. The village of today includes only a part of it. The other part was north of the road which goes down from Nazareth to Tiberias in front of the village of today, the site that today is called Karm er-Ras. Here, Fr. Bagatti himself, during his scouting around during various years (Liber Annuus, 1963, pp. 263-90), noticed some bases of columns. Fr. Meistermann spoke earlier about this in the book we mentioned before, Guida di Terra Santa (p. 549) and he is convinced of the presence of a synagogue of the usual type found in Galilee.

Father Bagatti says, ÒWhen the ruins of an ancient synagogue are discovered and also those of a building for Christian worship, we are led to consider the ancient village as an important center with two communities. Judging from the experience of other Galilaean centers we may believe, indeed, that on the one part of the village were the Jews and on the other, the Jewish Christians (p. 42).

The Custody of the Holy Land to accede to requests coming from various associations which are inspired by the Christian doctrine of matrimony and the family has decided to establish a center in which those who desire, can spend a longer period of time for a more profound reflection. No one can escape the meaning of this project next to the shrine which recalls the first sign Jesus performed. With it, He began His Messianic revelation and the first intervention of the Mediation of Mary.

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