* Main 白冷首頁
Other sites in the surroundings
The Church on the "Milk Grotto"
In Bethlehem the sacred area around the Nativity Grotto has been the focal point of all tradition. Nevertheless in Bethlehem a small Chapel has been for long centuries a devotional site. The "Milk Grotto" over which today a small Chapel rise, is frequently visited by local women, Christians and Moslems alike, to ask for the intercession of Mary. mother of Jesus. A legend recalls how some Mary spilt some milk while breast feeding baby Jesus and this is the reason for the "white" stone of the cave. A tradition going back to the VII century located at this site the burial place of the innocent victims killed by Herod the Great after the birth of Jesus.
Shepherds field 牧羊人曠野
Leaving Bethlehem to the plains underneath you can see the site where tradition indicates the spot where "Shepherds kept watch" on that night when Christ was born. The site is situated about 600 m from the town in the village of Beit Sahur. Eusebius (265-340) says that Tower Ader, a thousand paces from Bethlehem marked the place where the shepherds received the message. St. Jerome had the same opinion. Arculf (670) saw a church in this place. The Calendar of Jerusalem (VII-VIII cent.) says that to the east of Bethlehem was a monastery called Poemenium (of the flock) where the angel appeared to the shepherds. The Abbot Daniel (1106) calls the place Agia Pimina (holy pasture) and Peter the Deacon (1137) calls the church Ad Pastores, which had a grotto and an altar, while Phocas (1177) mentions a monastery too.
離開白冷往下方的植被去，你會看見傳統中耶穌誕生那晚「牧羊人守夜」的地方。這地方位在距鎮上六百公尺的Beit Sahur村中。Eusebius（265-340）說距白冷一千步的Ader塔正標記著牧羊人接到消息的地方，St. Jerome有同樣的見解。Arculf（670）見過這裡有一座教堂。耶路撒冷曆（第七、第八世紀）說白冷東邊有一個叫Poemenium（of the flock）的修道院，那兒正是天使顯現給牧羊人之處。Daniel院長（1106）稱那地方為Agia Pimina（聖牧場），而Peter the Deacon（1137）稱那教堂為Ad Pastores，那兒有個洞窟及祭台，Phocas（1177）也提及一個修道院。
After the Crusader period the area seemed to have laid in ruins as the pilgrims started to visit a new site, Deir el-Ra'uat (Convent of the Shepherds). Since 1859 though the site of Siyar el-Ganam (the Sheepfold) has been preferred as the traditional site of for these evangelical events. This area, in the care of the Franciscans, was partially excavated in 1859 by C. Guarmani and extensively excavated by Fr. V. Corbo in 1951-52. These excavations revealed a vast monastic agricultural establishment, with presses, cisterns, silos and grottoes. The site resulted inhabited since the Herodian period had its main development in the V-VII century. A first church of the IV-V century was enlarged in the VI. In this reconstruction, in the apse of the Church, the builders used stones coming from the Constantinian octagonal construction of the Basilica of the Nativity. The remains of two semicircular altars and inscriptions in mosaics confirm the sacred character of the site.
十字軍時期之後這區域似乎成為廢墟，而朝聖者開始拜訪新的地點，Deir el-Ra'uat（牧羊人修院）。自西元1859年後Siyar el-Ganam（羊圈）被認為是傳統中福音事件的地點。這片區域為方濟會士所照顧，西元1859年由C. Guarmani部分的挖掘，而廣泛的挖掘是在西元1951到52年由V. Corbo神父進行。這些挖掘工作出土了大量的修道院文物遺址，如印刷機、儲水槽、地窖、石室等。這地方從黑落得時代開始有人居住，而在第五到七世紀開始發展。第一座教堂建於第四、五世紀並在第七世紀時擴建，建築用的石頭自Constantinian聖誕大殿的八角形結構移來，兩個半圓形祭台及馬賽克圖案標示神聖的地點仍尚存。
Near these ruins, in 1953 the Franciscans built a "tent like" chapel as a sanctuary to commemorate these events. This sanctuary of the "Gloria in Excelsis" is the work of architect A. Barluzzi and is internally decorated with frescoes by Noni. This chapel was built by donations coming from Canada.
西元1953年在這些遺址附近，方濟會士蓋了一座帳棚狀的小教堂作為紀念這些事蹟的朝聖地。這「Gloria in Excelsis」（在天光榮）的朝聖地由A. Barluzzi設計施工，內部裝飾的壁畫由Noni所繪。這小教堂的建造經費由加拿大奉獻。
To the East of Bethlehem, dominating the skyline towards the Judean desert, rises a truncated cone-shaped isolated mountain on which Herod the Great constructed the fortress which he dedicated for himself. "Herodium". Herod wanted to be buried here, but no sign of his tomb was ever discovered. This fortress, known to the local people as Gebel Foureidis, was excavated by Fr. Virgilio Corbo ofm with financial aid from the Italian Government in four campaigns (1962-67).
往白冷的東面，直達猶太曠野，地平線上升起一個圓錐形的獨立山丘，在那上面大黑落德建築了一座城堡作為他死後的安息之所「黑落德堡Herodium」。黑落德想要葬在那，但從不曾發現過他的墳墓在那裡的跡象。這個城堡被當地居民稱為Gebel Foureidis，西元1962到67年間在義大利政府的資助下，方濟會士Virgilio Corbo神父曾進行多次的挖掘。