NAZARETH (mod. en-Ndsira)  , a town in Galilee, in a hollow of the hills on the southern border of the plain of Esdraelon . It first appears as a village (John i . 46) in which Joseph and Mary lived (Luke i . 26) and to which they returned from Egypt (Matt. ii . 23) . , Here the unrecorded years of Christ's boyhood were spent . From the name of the town comes nasara (i.e . " Nazarenes "), the ordinary oriental word for " Christians." There was here a synagogue (Matt. xiii . 54) in which Christ preached the sermon that led to his rejection by his fellow towns-men . The growth of legends and traditional identifications can be traced in the writings of the pilgrims who have visited the town from Jerome's time till our own . For none of these can anything be said, save that it is possible that the village spring (called " St Mary's Well ") is the same as that used in the time of Christ . A large basilica stood here about A.D .

600: the crusaders transferred here the bishopric of Scythopolis . It was taken by

Saladin in 1187 . In 1517 it was captured by the Turks . The population is now estimated at about 3500 Moslems and 65oo Christians; there are numerous schools, hospitals, &c., conducted by Greeks, Latins and Protestants . Visitors are shown the " Church of the Annunciation " with caves (including a fragment of a pillar hanging from the ceiling, and said to be miraculously supported) which are described as the scene of the annunciation, the " workshop of Joseph," the " synagogue," and a stone table, said to have been used by Christ .