Good grief! The baptism site of Jesus is turning into a real bitch to research. It's an archeological site in Jordan about 500 meters from the modern Jordan River. Christians built anywhere from 3 to 5 churches at the same location, only to have earthquakes and the river keep wiping them out (the river used to run right past the building's foundation). It took me hours just to find a picture and, later, video of the original site. Apparently there is a visitor's center, a bus terminal, trinket shops, and shuttle buses to take you from the parking lot to the site. I can't find pictures of any of that, so the description of those is either going to be very minimal or made up. Parts of the archeological site has been covered with open wood structures supporting gable roofs. There's a long walkway around most of the site. Took me all day to discover that most of the pictures of those were out of date and they're now covered walkways. Opposite the church remains, there is an elevated walkway I have yet to discover in pictures that takes you from the remains to the Jordan River where, on the other side, the Israelis have built a very large modern tourist center for people who want to dunk their heads in the river. I knew they both existed, but I didn't realize the Israeli side was so close to the original, nor did I know the archeological site is so close to the modern path of the river. Turns out the remains are built on a flood plain and when the river overflows, the ancient baptism site in Jordan gets enough water to fill the dried out river bed from 2000 years ago. I've looked at 100s of pictures, dozens of videos, and countless web sites to get a sense of where everything is, what it looks like today, and what it looked like thousands of years ago. Unfortunately, I have no info yet on where the highway is, nor Elijah's Hill from which he rode a chariot to Heaven (it's nearby and big, so I need to know where), and the modern mosque(s) and Christian churches that the motorcade will pass along the way. There are also numerous caves nearby that John the Baptist and his followers lived in. A small number of tombs were also located on the main site, but I'll be damned if I can find them.
I was going to have Father Romano take Connor to the false Israeli site first as a test, but I don't want to spend two days researching it just for a few paragraphs in the story. I may still do it, but only if I wrap up the original research by tomorrow.
This is probably going to be the hardest site to research because it's so remote, second only to Old Jerusalem, although I don't plan for Connor to go sightseeing there, since he's still being pursued. Just the key Christian stops and then back to Rome.
Way past my bedtime.
