Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem
In 1838, American explorer Edward Robinson discovered ruins which he identified as those of a synagogue, but did not relate this to ancient Capernaum. In 1866, Charles William Wilson identified the location (then known as Tel Hum) as Capernaum. In 1894, Franciscan Friar Giuseppe Baldi of Naples, the Custodian of the Holy Land, was able to purchase a good part of the land around the ruins. Additional land on the eastern portion of the site became the property of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.