Christ was born at Bethlehem and thus, it is known as the Holy Land.
Many travelers come here for the pilgrimage during the Christmas season.
There is a grotto here, where the Christ is supposed to be born and
there is a 14-pointed Silver Star on the floor here. Three Christmas
Eves are celebrated in the Holy Land:
Sometimes, all three Christmas Eve services are going
on at the same time, in different languages and in different parts of
the church.
The traditional Christmas lunch consists of turkey, spiced with pepper,
cinnamon and nutmeg and stuffed with rice, meat, pine nuts and almonds.
On Christmas Eve, Protestant church members go around and sing carols.
In the morning, children open their presents before breakfast and after
the breakfast, Protestant people go to church and visit family and
friends to wish them a happy Christmas. In Catholic churches, priests
bless everybody with the Holy Water and all the family members take a
sip. For the Greek Orthodox Church members, Epiphany is quite important,
in which a special church service is held. In this service, a cross is
dipped into water to bless it and people take the water home to their
homes and take three sips before eating anything.
