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'''Bethlehem''' meaning "House of Bread" is a town of the [[West Bank]], 5 miles south of [[Jerusalem]] and just off the main road to [[Hebron]]. It is surrounded by fertile lands, cornfields, fig and [[olive]] yards and vineyards. Bethlehem does not have a great supply with water, though for many centuries the a low level [[aqueduct]] from [[Solomon]]'s Pools has been used by the inhabitants. Bethlehem was the birthplace of [[JesusChrist]]<ref>[[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 2:1-5</ref><ref>[[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 2:4-25</ref> and the location of [[Herod the Great|Herod]]'s "massacre of the innocents".<ref>Matthew 2:8-16</ref>
In 2012 the [[Church of the Nativity]], the site where Jesus was born and undoubtedly one of the most important locations on [[earth]], was finally deemed a [[World Heritage Site]] by [[UNESCO]] a whole 36 years after World Heritage Sites began getting named.<ref>[http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/896/ UNESCO: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route in Bethlehem, Palestine, inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List along with sites from Israel, Palau, Indonesia and Morocco] June 29, 2012</ref>