Gennesaret

Gennesaret (meaning: garden of the prince) was both a plain on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee and one of the designations of the lake itself. The plain of Gennesaret was a fertile crescent of land approximately three miles long and one mile wide, renowned in antiquity for its exceptional agricultural productivity — Josephus describes it as producing a remarkable variety of fruits in abundance. It was watered by springs and the mild lakeside climate, and the Gospel accounts place several significant events in its vicinity.

After Jesus walked on water and calmed the storm, the boat landed at Gennesaret where the people immediately recognized him and brought all the sick of the surrounding region for healing (Matthew 14:34; Mark 6:53). The lake is called the Lake of Gennesaret in Luke 5:1, the passage where Jesus teaches from Simon Peter's boat before the miraculous catch of fish. The plain's identification with the modern Ginosar area on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee is generally accepted; a famous ancient boat dating from the first century BC/AD was discovered in its lakeside mud in the 1980s.