"Caesarea" Caesarea by stevezero

On Christmas day (not a holiday in Israel) we took the bus up to the ancint port city of Caesaria.
Located on the shores of the Northen Sharon plain, it served as the capital of the country during the Roman and Bysantine periods and was a major port throughout the early Arab and Crusader periods.

ancient breakwater

The city was established in the third century BC as a phonecian settlement.
In the first century BC, the great king Herod constructed a well planned city on the site. He named it Caesaria in honour of his Roman patron, Augustus Caeser.
Among Herod's innovations was the building of a breakwater, the first in the country, which resulted in Caesaria becoming one of the most important maritime cities in the eastern Mediterranean. Caesaria also played an important part in the development of Christianity, but fell into decline after conquest in 639 AD.

More Ruins

The city came alive again during the Crusader period. The Crusaders, especially King Louis IX of Franca, rconstructed and fortified the city in 1265.Caesaria was then conquered by Sultan Baybars and the city went once more into steady decline