Kursi

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Kursi - National Park

Kursi is located on the east side of the Sea of Galilee about 3 miles north of En Gev. 

It has at least three names in various manuscripts: Gadarenes, Gerasenes, and Gergesenes. While we can’t be sure of its name, we are sure it was in gentile territory because swine were raised in the area, and no Jew would be caught raising pigs.

Kursi is the site where 2,000 swine ran off a cliff and drowned in the Sea of Galilee at the command of Jesus [see Luke 8:26-39; Mark 5:1-20; Matthew 8:28-34].

Kursi was an important place of Christian pilgrimage from the 5th century. It is the site of the largest known Byzantine monastery complex in Israel.

A historical marker at the site reads:

“According to Christian tradition, Kursi is Gergesa, identified as the site where Jesus performed the miracle of the swine, as recorded in the New Testament. The national park contains the remains of one of the largest Byzantine monasteries in Israel, as well as a large church, mosaics, streets, drainage channels, a bathhouse, and a small chapel, from which beautiful views of the Sea of Galilee area are revealed.”