Israel
Sedot Yam

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    • Day 24

      Haifa: Caesarea National Park

      April 11, 2022 in Israel ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

      From our previous visit to Haifa, I knew the train station was walking distance to where Insignia would be docked today. Not that we were taking a train. Rather, I knew the path to get us out of the port on foot was in that direction. Instructions from port security — and an escort by Javier, Insignia’s Chief Purser, when we ran into him along the way — made getting to the port entrance easy peasy.

      Short of taking a tour, renting a car was the easiest way to get ourselves to Caesarea National Park, about 40 km from the port. Luckily, Suncar (on Jaffa Street) was just a 15-minute walk from the port. Soon, we were breezing down Hwy 4 to Hwy 2 to Rte 6511.

      The park has a beautiful setting on the Mediterranean coast, between the Crocodile and Hadera rivers. I’m not going to go through the entire history of the area … anyone interested can look that up. Suffice to say that Phoenicians were living here as far back as 586-332 BCE. Other empires and kingdoms took over in the years that followed … and then the Romans came in 30 BCE. They awarded the land to King Herod, who built a large port city and named it Caesarea in honor of Octavian Augustus Caesar … Herod’s way of saving his neck from the chopping block.

      We entered the ruins of Caesarea through the perimeter fortifications and slowly made our way to the harbor area and the Visitor Center, which was open today. The museum inside is small, but the short film gave us a brief glimpse of how Herod built the city. Then, we wandered out towards the harbor, following a meandering course that took us through the ruins of the palace, vaults, public latrines and baths; along the length of the hippodrome where chariot races were held; and on to the Herodian Amphitheater.

      We enjoyed our visit to Caesarea National Park … except for being disappointed in the amphitheater, which has been restored with modern materials and now sports a performance stage that doesn’t fit the ambiance one bit. The Mediterranean served as a beautiful background for the ruins, the brilliant sun and blue sky adding to our pleasure in the day.

      All in all, an enjoyable day that more than made up for yesterday’s frustrations in Ashdod.
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    • Day 4

      Cesarea

      August 15, 2023 in Israel ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

      Despues de un atasco, llegamos a Cesarea, auntigua villa romana construida por Herodes, rey de Judea en honor al emperador romano. Visitamos el teatro, la antigua ciudad y el centro de interpretación con una pelicula muy interesante. Luego tomamos algo en el bar del puerto dentro de las ruinas. Muy agradable lugar.Read more

    • Day 6

      Caesarea

      November 18, 2022 in Israel ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

      Um noch mehr von Israel zu sehen, haben wir beschlossen, eine Tages-Bus-Tour zu buchen. Es ging von Tel Aviv nach Caesarea, mit kurzem Zwischenstop an den Bahai Gärten in Haifa zu den Grotten in Rosch Hanikra und abschließend nach Akkon.

      Herodes der Große ließ Caesarea etwa um die Zeit von Christi Geburt zu Ehren des römischen Kaisers Augustus anlegen, der mit vollem Namen Imperator Caesar Augustus hieß. Er stattete es mit einem Theater, einem Hippodrom, Geschäftsstraßen, großen Bädern und Palastanlagen luxuriös aus. Fast sechs Jahrhunderte war Caesarea eine einflussreiche und wohlhabende Stadt. Der anhaltende Aufschwung sorgte für immer neue Bauwerke, von denen auch heute noch einige gut erhalten sind. Der Hafen von Caesarea war zwischenzeitlich sogar der zweitgrößte im gesamten Mittelmeerraum.
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    • Day 8

      Caeserea

      July 24, 2023 in Israel ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      Caeserea Maritimi. Erneut eine Machtdemonstration von Herodes, die später auch ein "Festungshafen" der Kreuzfahrer war.

      Petrus hatte sich hier regelmäßig aufgehalten und der Hauptmann Kornelius wurde als erster Nicht-Jude hier getauft.

      Einige "Steine" zeugen noch von dieser antiken Stadt, teils sind sie auch gut erhalten.
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    • Day 8

      Der Hafen von Cäserea

      July 24, 2023 in Israel ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      Auch der Hafen wird noch bis heute angefahren.
      Zu Zeiten Herodes eher militärisch, wurde es im Anschluss von Christen auch als Start von Missionsreisen genutzt. Später war es es unter den Kreuzfahrer n Audi wieder ein militärisch bedeutender und erneut ausgebauter Hafen.
      Heute sind hier einige Angler mit großen Angeln sowie Taucher, die das klare Wasser begrüßen zu sehen.
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    • Day 3

      Caesarea

      April 26, 2023 in Israel ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

      Visiting Caesarea, city of Cornelius
      the Centurion, the first Gentile to convert (Acts 10). We visited the Roman theatre, walked on the pier used by the apostle Paul on his way to Rome, and saw the impressive water aqueduct built by Herod the Great. We were also able to see what is believed to be the prison that Paul was held in!

      Ancient Caesarea

      The modern town is named after the ancient city of Caesarea Maritima, built by Herod the Great about 25–13 BCE as a major port. It served as an administrative center of the province of Judaea (later named Syria Palaestina) in the Roman Empire, and later as the capital of the Byzantine province of Palaestina Prima. During the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, it was the last city of the Holy Land to fall to the Arabs. The city degraded to a small village after the provincial capital was moved from here to Ramla and had an Arab majority until Crusader conquest. Under the Crusaders it became once again a major port and a fortified city. It was diminished after the Mamluk conquest. [4] In 1884, Bosniak immigrants settled there.[4] In 1940, kibbutz Sdot Yam was established next to the village. In February 1948, the village was conquered by a Palmach unit commanded by Yitzhak Rabin, its people already having fled following an earlier attack by the Lehi paramilitary group.
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    • Day 5

      Caesarea

      February 6, 2023 in Israel ⋅ 🌧 54 °F

      We persevered through strong winds, heavy rain, and a raging sea to visit Caesarea. This extravagant port city on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea was built by Herod the Great to honor Caesar. It included what was likely the world's first man-made harbor to foster trade and the collection of taxes, a Roman amphitheater, Herod's Palace, a hippodrome, and an aqueduct.

      A noteworthy archeological discovery is a stone bearing the name of Pontius Pilate, who was doubted to exist by some archeologists because the Bible is the only historical document where his name appears.
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    • Day 4

      Caesaria

      May 6, 2019 in Israel ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

      Caesaria war wohl eine bedeutende antike Stadt Palästinas, später auch eine wichtige Festung der Kreuzfahrer. Der ursprüngliche Name der Stadt war Stratonos Pyrgos und wurde kurz vor Christi Geburt von Caesar an Herod geschenkt, der sie dann umbenannte und ausbaute.

      Wunderschöne Landschaft drumherum, fällt es mir bei 36 Grad ohne Guide schwer, mich auf die Geschichte einzulassen und mache nur Fotos 😅

      Am selben Tag Raketenangriffe aus dem Gazastreifen, was ich hier aber nur durch Nachricht aus Deutschland mitbekomme.

      Den Krieg selbst sehen die Leute abgeklärt: bereits vor ein paar Tagen sagte ein Guide, dass es regelmäßig alle paar Jahre immer mal wieder zu Konflikten mit Gaza kommt, vermutlich sei es diesen Sommer wieder so weit.
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    • Day 3

      Caesarea Maritima - Herods Palace

      May 9, 2019 in Israel ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

      Caesarea Maritima (“by the sea”) was founded by Herod the Great on the site of an ancient fortified town. In 22 BC, with no expense spared, he began building a new city and merchant harbor. The deepwater harbor took 12 years to build. It is in the inheritance of Manasseh.
      The apostle Paul was imprisoned for two years at Herod's Palace in Caesarea Maritima Acts 23:34. A stone tablet was found here with an inscription of the name Pontius Pilate and dedicated to Tiberius Caesar who nominated him as procurator. This is important evidence of the existence of Pontius in Caesarea. It was from here the Roman procurator set out for the Passover festival in Jerusalem, where he sentenced Jesus to death.
      The building rocks are sandstone and cut with a chisel and a hammer.
      Nearby is a modern-day coal-fired plant that produces electricity for Israel.
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    • Day 18

      Ancient Caesarea

      February 19, 2022 in Israel ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

      Ancient Caesarea (also Caesarea Maritima), just south of the modern town was built by Herod the Great and named for Augustus Caesar. Begun by Herod in 22 BCE, construction continued until 9 BCE when he finished the harbor (called Sebastos) that was built from nothing. That is, there was no place along the coast usable as a harbor. When it was built, it was the largest artificial harbor of it's time, rivaling even Alexandria in importance.
      Caesarea served as the provincial capital during Herod's reign and for some centuries thereafter. It was also an important place in the development of Christianity.
      The 1st picture looks across Herod's palace. The palace was on 2 levels. This picture looks across the upper or public label of the palace. The 2nd picture looks down on the lower or private level of the palace. This was built around an open courtyard with a pool that can still be seen in the center. Towards the bottom of the picture are some of the mosaics still in situ.
      The 3rd picture is the Roman theater, and the 4th picture is of some of the decorative elements from the original building.
      The 5th picture is the Herodias hippodrome, taken from one end. The original was twice as wide, but the Mediterranean (just visible to the left) waves washed out that portion. The last picture is a portion of the original wall along the hippodrome racecourse that has been set up to give a sence of the opulence Herod was famous for.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Sedot Yam, שדות ים

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