This paper explores the intersection of empirical archaeological knowledge and historical tradition at sites in the Galilee. Tracing the accounts of the earliest pilgrims to the Holy Land, I examine how some sites in the Galilee came to be associated with Biblical events and how those associations, combined with modern archaeology, affect perceptions of these sites by modern pilgrims. I described these sites where traditional narratives are directly contested by modern archaeology as sites of ‘authentic inauthenticity’. In many cases, modern archaeological evidence does little to dissuade pilgrims of the importance and meaning found at these sites.