Ida Laura Pfeiffer was the daughter of a Viennese merchant who grew up with five brothers, a tomboy beginning she would never forget. After having three children and a failed marriage, she took her modest inheritance and shocked her Victorian friends by announcing that she was going to travel to the Middle East—alone.
Often dressing in men’s clothing, and usually only accompanied by a hired dragoman, Pfeiffer traveled through Palestine and Egypt in 1842. Her published account of her voyage, A Visit to the Holy Land, was published the following year. Below is an excerpt from her book in which she recounts a visit to Nazareth:
It was only nine o’clock when we reached Nazareth, and repaired to the house for strangers in the Franciscan convent, where the priests welcomed us very kindly. As soon as we had made a short survey of our rooms (which resulted in our finding them very like those at Jerusalem, both as regards appearance and arrangement), we set forth once more to visit all the remarkable places, and above all the church which contains the Grotto of Annunciation. This church, to which we were accompanied by a clergyman, was built by St. Helena, and is of no great size. In the background a staircase leads down into the grotto, where it is asserted that the Virgin Mary received the Lord’s message from the angel. Three little pillars of granite are still to be seen in this grotto. The lower part of one of these pillars was broken away by the Turks, so that it is only fastened from above … A picture on the wall, not badly executed, represents the Annunciation. The house of the Virgin is not shewn here, because, according to the legend, an angel carried it away to Loretto in Italy.
Another grotto in the town is shewn as “the workshop of Joseph;” it has been left in its primitive state, except that a plain wooden altar has been added. Not far off we find the synagogue where our Lord taught the people, thereby exasperating the Pharisees to such a degree, that they wished to cast Him down from a rock outside the city. In conclusion we were shewn an immense block of stone on which the Saviour is said to have eaten the Passover with His disciples(!).
In the afternoon we went to see “Mary’s Well,” on the road to Tabarith, at a short distance from Nazareth. This well is fenced round with masonry, and affords pure clear water. Hither, it is said, the Virgin came every day to draw water, and here the women and girls of Nazareth may still be daily seen walking to and fro with pitchers on their shoulders. Those whom we saw were all poorly clad, and looked dirty. Many wore no covering on their head, and, what was far worse, their hair hung down in a most untidy manner. Their bright eyes were the only handsome feature these people possessed. The custom of wearing silver coins round the head also prevailed here.
To-day was a day of misfortunes for me; in the morning, when we departed from Lagun, I had already felt unwell. The worst of all this was, that I felt obliged to hide my illness, as I had done on our journey to Jerusalem, for fear I should be left behind. The wish to view all the holy places in Nazareth was also so powerful within me, that I made a great effort, and accompanied the rest of my party for the whole day, though I was obliged every moment to retire into the background that my condition might not be observed.
Ida Laura Pfeiffer was the daughter of a Viennese merchant who grew up with five brothers, a tomboy beginning she would never forget. After having three children and a failed marriage, she took her modest inheritance and shocked her Victorian friends by announcing that she was going to travel to the Middle East—alone. Often dressing in men’s clothing, and usually only accompanied by a hired dragoman, Pfeiffer traveled through Palestine and Egypt in 1842. Her published account of her voyage, A Visit to the Holy Land, was published the following year. Below is an excerpt from her book in […]
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