Caesarea Maritima by the Sea

I have been to Caesarea a few times. It's an incredible site. It is a modern town of over 5,000 residence. About 1.25 miles away is the old City of Caesarea, situated between Tel Aviv and Haifa as part of the Sharon Plain. Just a little bit of history! This coastal city was first settled in the 4th Century BCE as a Phonenician Colony and trading village known as Straton's tower. It was built much bigger by Herod the Great about 25-13 BCE as a major port. Herod built this city to become an administrative center. It became a major trading route and Marina and a fishing village. It was the capital of Roman Judaea, Syria Palastina, and Palastina Prima for 650 years. Today it is part of the Caesarea National Park. Here are some of my pictures of this amazing site!

I remember the first time I stepped onto this site. I was amazed by it's sure size. That Herod definitely wanted to leave his mark. He built this place into a thriving community. I was shocked by what was still left. The first thing we did as a group was to sit at the amphitheater. We talked about the site and what it may have looked like back then. Wow! I climbed from the bottom to the top of this place with several steps and breathlessness. And then to see the Temple that he built and his palace out into the sea was very inspiring. Some places are hard to picture because of the lack of things remaining. This sight, you can see it! There is much more to this site. This is only the beginning!

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Caesarea Marina

This is the Nymphaeum, a public Roman-era fountain structure. It consists of a wall with arched inches of which one of the inches contains a white marble statue. In front of the wall is a long, rectangular reflecting pool!

There is a lot going in this picture! First to the right with the big windows is the modern visitors center. To the front is the platform Herod built to support a magnificent temple dedicated to Rome and Augustus Caesar. To the left is a grand staircase which leads to the temple platform. This is a reconstruction.

Harbor Vaults- These structures were originally used as warehouses for ported goods.

This mosaic was part of a Byzantine Palace built in the 6th century. It's design included 120 birds.

A picture from inside one of the Vaults- to Herod's Palace and the sea in the distance.

Another picture of his Palace built over the sea.

In this archaeological site there is this amphitheatre and a hypadrome as well.