Chapel of the Shepherds' Field

Beit Sahour or Beit Sahur (Arabic: بيت ساحور pronounced Bayt Saahoor ; Palestine grid 170/123) is a Palestinian town east of Bethlehem, in the Bethlehem Governorate of the State of Palestine. The city is under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority. The population was of approximately 14,000 in 2017, consisting of approximately 80% Christians (most of them Greek Orthodox) and 20% Muslims.Christian tradition holds Beit Sahour to be the site of the Annunciation to the Shepherds. There are two enclosures in the eastern part of Beit Sahour that are claimed by different Christian denominations to be the actual 'Shepherds Field': one belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church, and the other, the Catholic site, belonging to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. The mainly Christian Palestinian inhabitants are being pressured by encroaching Israeli settlements, with one housing development threatened with demolition.

Nuaman or Khallet an Nu'man (Arabic: النعمان, meaning "Grace"), also written al-Numan/an-Nu'man, is a small village located just north of Beit Sahour in the Palestinian Governorate of Bethlehem. The Israeli government incorporated its territory within Jerusalem after the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War. The village is regarded as neither part of the West Bank, nor part of Jerusalem. A United Nations report has described the villagers as "living in limbo." In terms of local government it is treated together with the neighbouring village Al-Khas, to the west, as one unit.

Har Homa (Hebrew: הר חומה, lit Wall Mountain), officially Homat Shmuel, is an Israeli settlement in southern East Jerusalem, near the Palestinian city of Beit Sahour. The settlement is also referred to as "Jabal Abu Ghneim" (also "Jabal Abu Ghunaym"), which is the Arabic name of the hill. One purpose given for the decision approving of its establishment was to obstruct the growth of the nearby Palestinian city of Bethlehem.The settlement was officially renamed Homat Shmuel in 1998 after Shmuel Meir, a former deputy mayor of Jerusalem, who played an active role in its development before he was killed in a car accident in 1996.In 2013, Har Homa had a population of 25,000.Built on 1,850 dunams of land Israel expropriated in 1991, the international community considers Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

The Chapel of the Milk Grotto of Our Lady (Latin: Crypta lactea; Arabic: مغارةآلسثئ; Hebrew: מערת החלב) also called Grotto of Our Lady or Milk Grotto, is a Catholic chapel in Bethlehem, in the West Bank of the State of Palestine, erected in 1872. Since Byzantine times, the place has been a center of Christian pilgrimage, maintained since its last erection together with its Marian shrine and monastery by the Custody of the Holy Land of the Order of the Friars Minor of the Catholic Church in Palestine. The Status Quo, a 250-year-old understanding between religious communities, applies to the site.

Dar Salah (Arabic: دار صلاح) is a Palestinian village located 6 km (3.7 mi) east of Bethlehem. The village is in the Bethlehem Governorate Southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 3,373 in 2007.As of February 2015, Dar Salah had the only ostrich farm in the Palestinian territories, a unique project by a local farmer.

From 2 April to 10 May 2002, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the West Bank was besieged by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), targeting suspected Palestinian militants who had taken shelter in the church. As part of Operation Defensive Shield, the IDF occupied Bethlehem and attempted to capture suspected Palestinian militants. Dozens of them fled into the Church of the Nativity and sought refuge. IDF surrounded the site and besieged the suspected militants and non-militants at the site, which included approximately 200 monks resident in the church and other Palestinians who had arrived at the site for other reasons. The Franciscan Order maintained no hostages were held, while Israeli sources claimed the monks and others were being held hostage by gunmen.After 39 days, an agreement was reached, according to which the militants turned themselves in to Israel and were exiled to Europe and the Gaza Strip.

The Church of Saint Catherine or Chapel of Saint Catherine (Latin: Ecclesia Sanctae Catharinae, Arabic: كنيسة القديسة كترينا, Hebrew: כנסיית קתרינה הקדושה) is a Catholic religious building located adjacent to the northern part of the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the West Bank, Palestine. It works as a parish church and Franciscan monastery. There is a complex of caves underneath the church.It is administered by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, follows the Roman Rite, and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2012 as part of the "Birthplace of Jesus" world heritage site.

The Church of the Nativity, or Basilica of the Nativity, is a basilica located in Bethlehem in the State of Palestine, in the West Bank. The grotto holds a prominent religious significance to Christians of various denominations as the birthplace of Jesus. The grotto is the oldest site continuously used as a place of worship in Christianity, and the basilica is the oldest major church in the Holy Land.The church was originally commissioned by Constantine the Great a short time after his mother Helena's visit to Jerusalem and Bethlehem in 325–326, on the site that was traditionally considered to be the birthplace of Jesus. That original basilica was likely built between 330 and 333, being already mentioned in 333, and was dedicated on 31 May 339. It was probably destroyed by fire during the Samaritan revolts of the sixth century, possibly in 529, and a new basilica was built a number of years later by Byzantine Emperor Justinian (r. 527–565), who added a porch or narthex, and replaced the octagonal sanctuary with a cruciform transept complete with three apses, but largely preserved the original character of the building, with an atrium and a basilica consisting of a nave with four side aisles.The Church of the Nativity, while remaining basically unchanged since the Justinianic reconstruction, has seen numerous repairs and additions, especially from the Crusader period, such as two bell towers (now gone), wall mosaics and paintings (partially preserved). Over the centuries, the surrounding compound has been expanded, and today it covers approximately 12,000 square meters, comprising three different monasteries: one Roman Catholic, one Armenian Apostolic, and one Greek Orthodox, of which the first two contain bell towers built during the modern era.The silver star marking the spot where Christ was born, inscribed in Latin, was stolen in October 1847 by Greek monks who wished to remove this Catholic item. Some assert that this was a contributing factor in the Crimean War against the Russian Empire. Others assert that the war grew out of the wider European situation.Since 2012, the Church of the Nativity is a World Heritage Site and was the first to be listed by UNESCO under 'Palestine'.Since 1852 the rights of the three religious communities are ruled by Status Quo.

Bethlehem (; Arabic: بيت لحم, Bayt Laḥm, ; Hebrew: בֵּית לֶחֶם Bēṯ Leḥem) is a city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestine, located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of Jerusalem. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate, and has a population of approximately 25,000 people. The city's economy is largely tourist-driven; international tourism peaks around and during Christmas, when Christians embark on a pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity, revered as the location of the Nativity of Jesus.The earliest-known mention of Bethlehem is in the Amarna correspondence of ancient Egypt, dated to 1350–1330 BCE, when the town was inhabited by the Canaanites. In the Hebrew Bible, the period of the Israelites is described; it identifies Bethlehem as the birthplace of David. In the New Testament, the city is identified as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. Under the Roman Empire, the city of Bethlehem was destroyed by Hadrian, but later rebuilt by Helena, and her son, Constantine the Great, who commissioned the Church of the Nativity in 327 CE. In 529, the Church of the Nativity was heavily damaged by Samaritans involved in the Samaritan revolts; following the victory of the Byzantine Empire, it was rebuilt by Justinian I. Amidst the Muslim conquest of the Levant, Bethlehem became part of Jund Filastin in 637. Muslims continued to rule the city until 1099, when it was conquered by the Crusaders, who replaced the local Christian clergy—composed of representatives from the Greek Orthodox Church—with representatives from the Catholic Church. In the mid-13th century, Bethlehem's walls were demolished by the Mamluk Sultanate. However, they were rebuilt by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, following the Ottoman–Mamluk War. After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, it became part of Mandatory Palestine until 1948, when it was annexed by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. During the 1967 Six Day War, Bethlehem was occupied by Israel along with the rest of the West Bank. Since the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, Bethlehem has been designated as part of Area A of the West Bank, nominally rendering it as being under Palestinian control. Movement around the city is limited due to the Israeli West Bank barrier. While it was historically a city of Arab Christians, Bethlehem now has a majority of Arab Muslims; it is still home to a significant community of Palestinian Christians, however it has dwindled significantly, mostly due to difficulties resulting from living under the Israeli occupation. Presently, Bethlehem has become encircled by dozens of Israeli settlements, which significantly hinder the ability of Palestinians in the city to openly access their land and livelihoods, which has contributed to the exodus of Palestinians.

Manger Square (Arabic: ميدان المهد; Hebrew: כיכר האבוס) is a city square in the center of Bethlehem in Palestine. It takes its name from the manger where Jesus is said to have been born which, according to Christian tradition, took place at the Grotto of the Nativity, enshrined since the fourth century in the Church of the Nativity. A particular building set in Manger Square is the Mosque of Omar, the Old City's only mosque, and the Palestinian Peace Center. The streets that lead to the square are related to the Christian faith, such as Star Street and Nativity Street. In 1998–1999, the square was renovated to relieve the traffic congestion and currently is, to a large degree, pedestrian only. It is mainly a meeting place for locals and for the town's many pilgrims. There are rows of celtis australis trees that provide shade to its people, with benches and fountains made of yellowish-white local limestone known as Naqab marble.

The Mosque of Omar (Arabic: مسجد عمر Masjid Umar) is the only mosque in the Old City of Bethlehem, Palestine. It is located on the west side of Manger Square, across the square from the Church of the Nativity.

Baituna al-Talhami Museum (Arabic: متحف بيتنا التلحمي), also known as Bethlehem Folklore Museum or The Museum of Traditional and Popular Art, is a museum located in Bethlehem, Palestine, on Star Street, slightly off Pope Paul VI Street. Its rooms are designed to resemble those in a traditional nineteenth-century Palestinian home, containing a selection of pictures, clothing and jewelry, alongside the tools used to produce them. It was originally set up by the Arab Women's Union (AWU) in 1948, under Julia Dabdoub, as a center for Palestinian refugees fleeing their villages to eat, and practice in traditional embroidery for income. The AWU established the museum in 1979. It consists of two houses of typical Palestinian architecture, which include a renovated kitchen, a diwan room, a bedroom and an upper floor or illeyeh. The contents of the museum included a collection of traditional Palestinian household items displayed in an old house. The amount of items increased after a campaign amongst Bethlehem's prominent families to donate their traditional belongings commenced. Many items were thus saved from withering away in the basements of homes. In 1984, the museum was expanded to include an adjacent old house which had been restored. This new house, according to Julia Dabdoub, "is one of the few authentic old houses left in Bethlehem… similar to the house in which Jesus was born." In 1992, Dabdoub donated her forty-year collection of photographs, furniture, and works of art to furnish the upper room or "al-Illiyeh" which shows the life of Bethlehem residents between 1900 and 1932. Although Baituna al-Talhami is run as a museum, it still serves and employs refugees, as well as host festivals celebrating Palestinian artists, poets and writers.