Stella Maris and Elijah's Cave

My first destination this morning was the site of the original Carmelite monastery. The church that is there now, is not all that old, but the history of the Carmelites goes back much further. Something I hadn't known was that the Carmelites (who are named after Mount Carmel) are strongly devoted to Elijah, as well as to Mary and Jesus. The Carmelite brother who showed me around the church suggested I read 1 Kings 17-19 to find the story that happened near here. The first Carmelites imitated Elijah by living alone in caves on the mountainside. Only much later did they ask to have a rule and become an institution.

Inside the church, underneath the altar, there is a cave which is said to have been inhabited by Elijah. Further down the hill is another place which is known as Elijah's cave. On my map, it looked very close to Stella Maris, but you couldn't see one from the other. I took an unmarked footpath down the hill to reach it. This is a Jewish site, though people from several religions visit it.

I went also to the National Maritime Museum which had an interesting mixture of old things related to ships (some very old such as stone anchors and metal ingots), modern models of ships from various times, examples of sailors' handicrafts - rope art, scrimshaw, boats in bottles.

Maybe I will get to the beach tomorrow!