Caesarea
written By Zvika Gasner Koheleth 12-December-2024 ( Oroginally 1-March-2019, 12-January-2020, 25-April-2021) Photography by Angela Hechtfisch
Caesarea – Introduction
Caesarea is a small town in north-central Israel. Naming in honor of Roman Ceasar Augustus the beneficiary of King Hordus the-Great, the greatest builder of Judea. The city is located 55 k.m north of Tel Aviv, on the coastal plain near the city of Hadera. The civilian part of the town is highly luxurious and contains private neighborhoods of the rich & famous.
Naturally, Caesarea (also known as “Caesarea Maritima” – “Caesarea by the sea”) main attraction is its old archeological part declared as a national park (Caesarea was also suggested in 2019 as Martine National park in the following years to come) just been announced in 10 spot as 1 of the 52 places in the world to go in 2020 by Time magazine. Tickets to the complete area cost 39 Shekels per adult, which includes the complete Caesarea complex, that is in addition to its cafe shops, restaurants, galleries, breaking waves also include the entry to the old Roman Theatre, the amazing horse hippodrome, Herods (King “Hordus the Great”) palace complex on the seafront with its “Infinity” pool, and the new Visitors center just opened in 2020 that shows every 15 minutes the story of King Herods Caesarea great builder (subtitles are available in English/Russian/Spanish/French).
King Herods with his complex personality, probably paranoid for a good reason hence his wife and later on two of his sons tried to kill and succeed him to the Judea throne, was the man who visioned and executed the creation of the 1st NONE natural deepwater seaport in the world. Herods also executed his conspiring wife and 2 boys, which later resulted in Ceasar Augustus famous phrase: “It is better to be Herod’s pig than his son.”
To fill the trust and deep pockets of Rome as serving his master, Herods asked to pimp up the Economy of Judea with huge construction projects to be taxed, such as its winter palace in Masada near the Dead Sea, the fortress of Herodian near Jerusalem, the rebuilt of the 2nd Jewish temple on the Temple mount, a facility described as the most amazing structure in the ancient world. Caesarea came into the huge Civilian-Roman metropolitan, 2nd in importance only to Jerusalem which acted as a spiritual & religious center, with a 2/3 population of Romans and 1/3 of Jewish inhabitants. The daily living in Caesarea were much closer to Rome than to Jerusalem by having circular lifestyle with the little guilty pleasures of the Romans including Theatre plays, Horse racing & Gladiator shows, bathhouses indulgent and more. Eventually, the thin coexistence between the traditional stricted Jewish life and the Roman-pagan had exploded, and the Jewish revolt in the Roman Empire in 66 AD started here in Caesarea old synagogue.
Caesarea role into Christianity
Because of Caesarea taking important (mostly) administrative playtime parallel to the beginning of Christianity, some findings are factual approvals of events that are known to be found in the gospels.
Pontius Pilate plate
Pontius Pilate the governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius is best known today for being the official who was asked by the Jewish Sanhedrin in Jerusalem to sentence Jesus to death by declaring himself as “king of Jews”, therefore, conspiring under Roman sovereignty. In the gospels, it states that Pontius Pilate directed over the trial of Jesus and later ordered his crucifixion.
Following this, a single inscription by Pilate has survived in Caesarea, on what was later to be called “Pilate Stone”. The stone was found in excavation held in the early ’70s of the 20th century in Caesarea theatre. Finding a stone with the inscription of the name of Pintus as described In the Gospels (Gospel of John) is a clear verification for the existence of Jesus as real (person).
Cornelius & Caesarea
Cornelius was a Roman centurion who was stationed in Caesarea and is considered by Christians to be the first Gentile to convert from paganism, as related in Acts of the Apostles. The baptism of Cornelius by the Apostles Peter that came to see him from the city of Jaffa after having his epiphany vision is an important event in the history of the early Christian church. Peter baptizes Cornelius in the waters of Caesarea. The baptism of Cornelius is an important event in the history of the early Christian church and tradition suggests he was to become the first bishop of Caesarea.
Saint paul & Caesarea
in (the book of) saint Paul (23:33-35) On arrives at Caesarea in the autumn of 57AD and appears before the Roman governor, and kept hold under armed guard at Herod’s Palace northeast chamber until his trial begins. He is then charged with a public disorder offense by defining himself as “a leader of the Nazarene group” (Acts 24:5) who has tried to desecrate the Temple by bringing Gentiles into the inner courts and he admits to believing in the resurrection of Jesus. the Roman governor Felix, who earlier beheaded James (Jesus brother) orders Paul to be taken into the barracks to be flogged and interrogated, BUT then Paul says “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”.
At the beginning of the Milenia, an expedition of the Israel Antiquities Authority revealed (Herods) palace and offices complex in its northeast corner. A mosaic floor was revealed containing an inscription(originally in Latin):
“I came to [this] office, I shall be watched [or guarded]”.
This room is suspected to be of saint Paul arresting facility. For the next 2 years, Paul is kept in this spot in the Roman palace having corresponding discussions with Felix and his Jewish wife until he finally travels to Rome to stand a trial in front of Emporer Claudius.
Caesarea & Herods (Hordus) the Great
The town was built by King Herod about 25–13 BC as the port city Caesarea (Maritima), a province of the great Roman Empire. It served as an administrative center of Judaea, later the capital of the Byzantine Palaestina Prima province during the classic period. Following the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, in which it was the last city to fall to the hands of the Arabs and the city had an Arab majority until the Crusader conquest at the end of the 11 century, which then built the huge fortress walls surrounding the city, from northeast to southeast. that is seen nowadays.
Notwithstanding, Caesarea’s golden age was at the days of King Herods. The city building took 12 years and in n 22 BC, Herod began the construction of a deep-sea harbor and built storerooms, markets, wide roads, baths and sauna steams, public aqua fountain temples to Rome and Augustus, and governmental buildings. King Herod also commissioned a raised aqueduct to deliver water from the springs 16 km. north-east of Caesarea, that remains of it can be seen nowadays on the beach of Caesarea to the north of the ancient Roman city. After the visit of Emperor Hadrian in 130 AD extensive repairs and a new section has been built to accommodate the city’s needs.
Every four years the city hosted major sports competitions, gladiator games in the amphitheater at the south end of the hippodrome with a place for 2 or 4 carriage horse races, and theatrical productions in its theatre with 3000 sits overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The theatre remained intact until today and still operates as Israel’s finest outdoor music stage act.
In summary
The trip to Caesarea is extremely interesting, and the facility is well reconstructed and preserved, mostly funded by the Rothschild foundation. The tourist area is nice. “PortCafe”, where we set for our 1st visit, offered an easy-going NOT expensive menu. For our 2nd trip to Caesarea, we indulged ourselves at “Helena”, which was voted as one of the top 101 restaurants in Israel by Timeout magazine in December 2019, and it was worth it. On our 3rd visit the Greek style Bistro/Taverna “Limani” was overbooked, BUT we promised to check it out the next time around.
It is recommended to come to Caesarea early in the morning as the visit takes a decent few hours and the location can get busy with visitors or with traffic later that day, therefore we suggest you spoil yourself with overnight (before or after) at the wonderfully Dan Resort Caeserea or the “Ramada Hadera hotel” (which is located 5 minutes drive from Caesarea); The staying at Ramada was unbelievably fun with panoramic sea view and huge breakfast.
