Caesarea Maritima (Greek: παράλιος Καισάρεια), called Caesarea Palaestina from 133 CE onwards, ^[1] was a city and harbor built by Herod the Great about 25–13 BC. A harbor or harbour (see spelling differences) or haven, is a place where ships may shelter from the Weather or are stored Herod (הוֹרְדוֹס Horodos, Greek: Herōdes) also known as Herod I or Herod the Great (73 BC – 4 BC in Jericho Today, its ruins lie on the Mediterranean coast of Israel about halfway between the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa, on the site of Pyrgos Stratonos ("Strato" or "Straton's Tower", in Latin Turris Stratonis). The Israeli Coastal Plain (מישור החוף Mishor HaHof) is the narrow Coastal plain along Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast which houses 70% of For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Tel Aviv-Yafo (תֵּל ־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ تل أبيب Tal ʾAbīb) (usually Tel Aviv) is the second-largest city in Israel Haifa (חֵיפָה; حَيْفَا) is the largest City in Northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country with Caesarea Maritima should not be confused with other cities named to flatter the Caesar: Caesarea Philippi in the Golan Heights or Caesarea Mazaca in Anatolian Cappadocia. Caesarea Philippi was an ancient city located at the southern end of Mount Hermon. Borders of Israel The Golan Heights ( الجولان al-Jawlān, הגולן ha-Golan) is a strategic Plateau and mountainous Kayseri ( Ottoman Turkish:قیصریه Greek: Καισάρεια / Kaisareia: Latin: Caesarea Mazaca Zazaish Cappadocia (or Capadocia, Turkish Kapadokya, from Greek: Καππαδοκία / Kappadokía which in turn is from the Persian: The city was described in detail by the 1st century Roman Jewish historian Josephus (Jewish Antiquities XV. The 1st century was the Century that lasted from 1 to 100 according the Julian calendar. Josephus (AD 37 – c 100 also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph son of Matthias and after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus Antiquities of the Jews ( Antiquitates Judaicae in Latin) was a work published by the important Jewish historian Flavius Josephus about the 331ff; Jewish War I. 408ff).

The harbor at Caesarea

Remains of a stone sarcophagus found at Caesarea

Remains of the ancient Roman aqueduct

The amphitheatre at Caesarea

History

Roman rule

Herod built his palace on a promontory jutting out into the sea, with a decorative pool surrounded by stoas. Stoa (plural stoae or stoæ) in Ancient Greek architecture; covered walkways or Porticos commonly for public usage In 13 BCE, Caesarea became the civilian and military capital of Judaea, and the official residence of the Roman procurators and governors, Pontius Pilatus, praefectus and Antonius Felix. Kingdom of Judea redirects here For the 10th-6th century BCE kingdom see Kingdom of Judah Iudaea ( Hebrew: יהודה Standard This page lists rulers of Judea and other related Jewish Kingdoms from the Maccabean Rebellion to the final Roman annexations A Roman governor was an official either elected or appointed to be the chief administrator of Roman law throughout one or more of the many provinces constituting the Marcus Antonius Felix ( Felix in Greek: ο Φηλιξ, born between 5 / 10 -? was the Ancient Rome Procurator of Remains of the principal buildings erected by Herod and the medieval town are still visible today, including the city walls, the castle and a Crusader cathedral and church.

Archaeological excavations in the 1950s and 1960s uncovered remains from many periods, in particular, a complex of Crusader fortifications and a Roman theatre. The Roman theatre is a theatre building built by the Romans for watching theatrical performances. Other buildings include a temple dedicated to Caesar; a hippodrome rebuilt in the 2nd century as a more conventional amphitheater; the Tiberieum, which has a limestone block with a dedicatory inscription ^[2]that is the only secular record of Pontius Pilate; a double aqueduct that brought water from springs at the foot of Mount Carmel; a boundary wall; and a 200 ft (60 m) wide moat protecting the harbour to the south and west. Augustus ( Latin: IMPERATOR·CAESAR·DIVI·FILIVS·AVGVSTVS September 23 63 BC – August 19 AD 14) born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, was A Hippodrome (Gr from hippos, horse and dromos, race course was a course provided by the Greeks for Horse racing and Chariot racing An amphitheatre (alternatively amphitheater) is an open-air venue for spectator sports concerts rallies or theatrical performances Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 The Pilate Stone is the name of a block of Limestone with a carved inscription attributed to Pontius Pilate, a prefect of the Roman-controlled province of Iudaea An aqueduct is an artificial channel that is constructed to convey water from one location to another Mount Carmel (הר הכרמל Karem El/Har Ha'Karmel; Arabic Kurmul/Jabal Mar Elyas) is a coastal Mountain range in northern Israel The harbor was the largest on the eastern Mediterranean coast. Caesarea grew rapidly, becoming the largest city in Judea, with an estimated population of 125,000 over an urban area of 3. 7 square kilometers.

In 66 CE, a massacre of Jews here and the desecration of the local synagogue led to the disastrous Jewish revolt. ^[3]

Vespasian declared it a colony and renamed it Colonia Prima Flavia Augusta Caesarea. Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian ( November 17 9 &ndash June 23 79) was a Roman Emperor who

Early Christian mentions of Caesarea in the apostolic period follow the acts of Peter who established the church there when he baptized Cornelius the Centurion (Acts, 10, 11). Cornelius (in Greek, Κορνήλιος) was a Roman Centurion who is considered by Christians to be the first Gentile The Acts of the Apostles is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul often sojourned there (9:30; 18:22; 21:8), and was imprisoned at Caesarea for two years before being taken to Rome (23:23, 25:1-13). Paul the apostle (שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning " Saul of Tarsus " Σαούλ Saul and Σαῦλος Saulos and

Christian hub

After the revolt of Simon bar Kokhba, which ended with the destruction of Jerusalem, Caesarea became the center of Christianity in Palestine; however, there is no record of any bishop of Caesarea until the end of the 2nd century, when a council was held there to regulate the celebration of Easter. Simon bar Kokhba ( Hebrew: שמעון בר כוכבא, also transliterated as Bar Kokhva or Bar Kochba) was the Jewish leader who led what Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings In the 3rd century Origen wrote his Hexapla and other exegetic and theological works while living there. Origen ( Greek: Ōrigénēs, or Origen Adamantius, ca 185–ca Hexapla (Ἑξαπλά Gr for "sixfold" is the term for an edition of the Bible in six versions Eusebius was one of its archbishops (315 - 318).

The main church, a martyrion (martyr's shrine) to an as yet unknown saint, was built in the 6th century and sited directly upon the podium that had supported the Roman temple, as was a widespread Christian practice. Fanum At the temples Romans prayed and made Ritual Worship Offerings of a small gift or Animal sacrifices to their Roman Throughout the Empire, prominently-sited pagan temples were rarely left unconsecrated to the new rites: in time the Martyrion's site was re-occupied, this time by a mosque. The Martyrion was an octagon, richly re-paved and surrounded by small radiating enclosures. Archaeologists have recovered some foliate capitals that included representations of the Cross. The Christian cross is the best-known Religious symbol of Christianity.

Through Origen and especially the scholarly presbyter Pamphilus of Caesarea, an avid collector of books of Scripture, the theological school of Caesarea won a reputation for having the most extensive ecclesiastical library of the time, containing more than 30,000 manuscripts: Gregory Nazianzus, Basil the Great, Jerome and others came to study there. Saint Pamphilus (Πάμφιλος (latter half of the 3rd century &ndash martyred February 309 was a Presbyter of Caesarea and chief among Catholic Saint Pamphilus (Πάμφιλος (latter half of the 3rd century &ndash martyred February 309 was a Presbyter of Caesarea and chief among Catholic Gregory of Nazianzus (329 – January 25 389) (also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory Nazianzen) was a 4th-century Archbishop Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great (c 330 – January 1, 379) (Άγιος Βασίλειος ο Μέγας Latin Jerome (c 347 – September 30, 420) ( Latin: Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος

An elaborate government structure contained a basilica with an apse, where magistrates would have sat, for the structure was used as a hall of justice, as fragments of inscriptions detailing the fees that court clerks might claim attest. The Latin word basilica (derived from Greek, Basiliké Stoà, Royal Stoa) was originally used to describe a Roman

An unusually well-preserved, sixth century, mosaic gold and colored glass table patterned with crosses and rosettes and found in 2005 [1] can be seen at [2]

Muslim occupation

In the 7th century, the city was captured first by the Persians, then in 638 by the Muslims, and in one or the other upheaval the great library was destroyed. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. 20,000 Jews and 30,000 Samaritans who lived in the city prior to the Muslim occupation (according to the Arab historian al-Baladhuri) vanished altogether from the historical record. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> Ahmad Ibn Yahya al-Baladhuri Arabic (أحمد بن يحيى بن جابر البلاذري

The Mosque of Caesarea Maritima

Crusader city

The walls remained, but within them the population dwindled and agriculture crept in among the ruins. When Baldwin I took the city in 1101/2, during the First Crusade, it was still very rich, nevertheless. Baldwin I of Jerusalem, formerly Baldwin I of Edessa, born Baldwin of Boulogne (French Baudouin de Boulogne 1058? - April 2, 1118, was The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II with the dual goals of conquering the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land and freeing A legend grew up that in this city was discovered the Holy Grail around which so much lore accrued in the next two centuries. According to Christian mythology, the Holy Grail was the dish plate or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper, said to possess miraculous powers

Perhaps the Holy Grail was recovered more than once, for the Genoese found a green glass goblet that they identified as the Chalice and expatriated to Genoa, where it was placed in the church of San Lorenzo.

The city was strongly refortified and rebuilt by the Crusaders. A lordship was created there, as was one of the four archbishoprics in the kingdom (see Archbishop of Caesarea). The Archbishop of Caesarea was one of the major suffragans of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem during the Crusades The diocese was an ancient one established

A list of thirty-six Latin bishops, from 1101 to 1496 has been reassembled by 19th century papal historians; the most famous of these is probably Heraclius. Heraclius or Eraclius (c 1128-1190/1191 was Archbishop of Caesarea and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. After that the Latin "Bishop of Caesarea" became an empty title.

The bishops did not govern: Saladin retook the city in 1187; it was recaptured by the Crusaders in 1191, and finally lost by them in 1265 this time to the Mamluks, who ensured that there would be no more battling over the site— where the harbor has silted in anyway— by razing the fortifications - in line with their practice in other formerly-Crusader coastal cities. Salahadin Ayyubi ( Arabic:صلاح الدين يوسف بن أيوب Kurdish: سه‌لاحه‌دین ئه‌یوبی Selah'edînê Eyubî; c

Modern times

Fishing Boats

Caesarea lay in ruins until its resettlement by the Ottomans as Kaisariyeh in 1884, after which the ruins were much damaged. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish In the 1950s and 60s, modern archaeology uncovered details of Crusader ramparts and the theater of the Roman city. More recent work has filled out the picture ^[4].

Caesarea has recently become the site of what bills itself as the world's first underwater museum, where 36 points of interest on four marked underwater trails through the ancient harbor can be explored by divers equipped with waterproof maps.

Gallery

Palm tree growing on city walls

City Walls

Chamber tomb

References

External links

• Jewish Encyclopedia: Cæsarea by the Sea
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Caesarea Palaestinae
• Archaeology of Caesarea
• Archaeology of Caesarea
• Pilate inscription
• PBS Frontline - Caesarea Maritima
• Photos of Caesarea
• Photo gallery of Caesarea Maritima
• Photo gallery of Caesarea Maritima

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