Israel.
Travel & Tour
Pictures, Photos, & Information.

Audrey DeLange
November 1999.

The ancient city of Caesarea is located half way between Tel Aviv and Haifa. The principal sights of Caesarea are the Crusader city and the Roman theater, both of which are included in a National Park ticket for both sites. The remains of the ancient aqueduct which is located on the beach to the north can be seen without purchasing a ticket. Caesarea was first occupied by the Phoenicians, who built a harbor here in the fourth century B.C.; it is thought the original settlement lay to the north of the Crusader city, near the structure they built called, Strato's Tower. After the conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. the area was occupied by the Greeks. Then in 22 B.C. - 9 B.C, Herod the Great began the construction of a large city and a great harbor, in the area, which he named Caesarea in honor of Augustus Caesar. the city, which included palaces, temples, a theater, a marketplace, a hippodrome, and water and sewage systems. When it was completed 12 years later, only Jerusalem was greater than Caesarea. Its population under Herod the Great grew to around l00,000, larger than that of Jerusalem; the city covered about 164 acres." Later on when Judaea became a Roman province in about 6 A.D., Caesarea became the residence of the Roman procurators, including Pontius Pilate (A.D. 26-36). Scholars were questioning the actual existence of a Roman Governor with the name Pontius Pilate, the procurator who ordered Jesus' crucifixion. Then in June 1961 Italian archaeologists led by Dr. Frova were excavating an ancient Roman amphitheatre near Caesarea and uncovered an interesting limestone block. On the face is an inscription which is part of a larger dedication to Tiberius Caesar which clearly says that it was from "Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea.". It is the only known occurrence of the name Pontius Pilate in any ancient inscription. Today when you visit Caesarea's theater you see a replica, the original is in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The city of Caesarea was one of the most important cities in Israel during the time of Christ and during the following first few centuries of the early church. From the scriptures we learn that Caesarea was the home of Cornelius, the first Gentile convert (Acts 10:1) and of Philip the evangelist (Acts 8:40). Herod Agrippa was smitten by an angel of the Lord at Caesarea (Acts 12:21-23) and the apostle Paul visited the city on many occasions (Acts 9:30; 23:23-35). In ancient times it was usually known as Caesarea of Palestine. In modern times to destinguish this city from Caesarea Philippi, it is known as Caesarea Maritima, which means Caesarea by the sea. Hostilities between the Greeks and Jews existed for quite a while, exploding with the Jewish revolt of 66 A.D., where most of the Jewish population were killed. The first Jewish rebellion was squelched by Vespasian and it was in Caesarea that the Roman legions proclaimed Vespasian emperor in 69 A.D.. Then a year later Vespasian's son, Titus, captured and destroyed Jerusalem. Later after 70 A.D., Caesarea became a Roman colony and the local Roman capital of Palestine for almost 600 years. Caesarea continued on to be of great commercial importance, until after the Crusades. The Polos set left from here in the 13th century for their travels to the Great Khan of the Mongols in far away Peking, China. Today Caesarea is a large archaeological site, with several structural remains from the Roman, Byzantine and Crusader periods. Caesarea's Roman buildings were mostly used for construction in other towns. Its' ancient harbour is now several meters below the sea level. There is a Roman aqueduct, north of the city. A restored Roman theatre in the southern part of the city. And the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre and hippodrome. Regarding the Roman aqueduct, since there were no natural sources of water at Caesarea, the demand for water during the Romans' occupation was considerable. Therefore the Roman legions built an aqueduct to bring water from the foothills of Mt. Carmel, about eight miles away. A channel four miles long was actually cut through natural rock and for the remaining four miles water was actually piped into the aqueduct. The apostle Paul visited Caesarea on several occasions. According to Acts, when the brethren found that the Hellenists sought to kill Paul "they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus" (Acts 9:30). Caesarea was also Paul's port of landing on his return from his second and third journeys (Acts 18:22; 21:7-8). Claudius Lysias also sent Paul to Caesarea with 70 horsemen, 200 soldiers and 200 spearmen who went as far as Antipatris, see (Acts 23:23-35). In Caesarea Paul gave his defense speech before Felix (Acts 24:10-21) and during his two years of imprisonment, he preached to Felix and Drusilla, as described in (Acts 24:22-27) and later on to King Agrippa as written in (Acts 26:1-32). When questioned by Festus, he appealed his case unto Caesar, see (Acts 25:10-12), and set he then sailed to Italy from Caesarea as told in (Acts 27:1-3). Muhraka, Elijah's Monument

There are two choices for your arrival if you wish to go to Caesarea. Tel Aviv or Haifa. The easy way to get to Tel Aviv, is to fly into the Ben Gurion International Airport. The airport is close to Tel Aviv, which is about 12 miles away. The Ben Gurion International Airport, (IATA: TLV, ICAO: LLBG), also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag, is the largest and busiest international airport in Israel. It was named the best airport in the Middle East by the ACI organisation.[ The airport is located near the city of Lod, 15 km (9 mi) southeast of Tel Aviv. It is operated by the Israel Airports Authority, a government-owned corporation that manages all public airports and border crossings in the State of Israel. The Ben Gurion International Airport is considered one of the world's most secure airports, with a security force that includes both police officers and IDF soldiers. The easy way to get to Haifa, is to fly into the Haifa International Airport Haifa. Haifa International Airport Haifa, also known as U Michaeli Airport) (IATA: HFA, ICAO: LLHA) is the Israeli airport located in Haifa. It is located to the east of the city, close to Kishon Port and Israel Shipyards and mainly serves civilian flights, with some military usage. Most passenger flights passing through the airport are domestic operations to Eilat and Tel Aviv and international flights to Jordan, Cyprus and Turkey. There are several hotels in or near Tel Aviv or Haifa. There are several Guided Tour Agencies offering standard city, and historical tours of Tel Aviv or Haifa, and the surrounding areas. After arranging your flight we would suggest getting your hotel and then letting them arrange tours of the area for you. If you call the hotels Concierge Services ahead of your arrival, all of this can be pre-arranged for you. I do this all the time. It is safe and it works!!! I have never experienced a problem doing it this way! I have links to Priceline.Com on our page so that you can arrange your flight and hotel in the Tel Aviv or Haifa, Israel area. Special Note - To Arrange Tours: A New Way To Arrange Your Tours Has Become Popular. It makes the process of getting a tour easy, and timesaving for you. It also is almost always less expensive. In most cases when you are at an attraction, you will be escourted to the front of the line, and be given special treatment. It is viator.com. They can do all of the work for you and get you into some awesome tours of the various attractions. There are links to viator.com on this page where you can arrange many special tours in Israel. When you click on the links, you will find inexpensive tours of the "must see or do," sites in Israel. From my own experience, these are far less expensive, than what I have paid, in the past, to see the same sites!

Herodian Theater At Caesarea.	Herodian Theater At Caesarea.
Herodian Theater At Caesarea.	Herodian Theater At Caesarea.
Herodian Theater At Caesarea.	Herodian Theater At Caesarea.
Partial Reconstruction Of Herod's Promontory Palace.	Partial Reconstruction Of Herod's Promontory Palace.
Caesarea Crusader City Wall.	Caesarea Crusader City Wall.
Caesarea Herods' Temple.	Caesarea Herods' Temple.
Crusader Citadel Mosque Herod's Inner Harbor.	Crusader Citadel.
Cruisaders' Fortress Caesarea.	Cruisaders' Fortress Caesarea.
Cruisaders' Fortress Caesarea.	Caesarea Roman Aqueduct.
Caesarea Roman Aqueduct.	Caesarea Roman Aqueduct.
Caesarea Roman Aqueduct.	Caesarea Roman Aqueduct.
Caesarea Roman Aqueduct.	Caesarea Roman Aqueduct.
Muhraka, Elijah's Monument.	Audrey DeLange At Caesarea.
Stone With The Pontius Pilate Ancient Inscription.	Pontius Pilate Ancient Inscription.
Caesarea Maritima.	Caesarea Beach.

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