Friends, Romans, countryman – we are in Casearea!
CAARI takes us to “must see sites” and hidden gems’!
Yes, we are on a holiday, hafsaka, a break, as they say in Hebrew in Israel. After 2 weeks of fulfilling community service and tours and speakers in Tel Aviv we took off for a few days in the North. Our weather continues to be beautiful, if fact, Saturday temperatures were in the mid 70’s.
We drove north along the beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea. Our first stop was the amazing excavations of the ancient port city Caesarea built by King Herod, spanning the Roman and Crusader Period. Neil explained that this was one of the first time cement was used on such a large scale, an engineering marvel. King Herod, a master builder, built many palaces in the Middle East, including Herodian, which we will be visiting while in Jerusalem. Casarea was a man made port the largest in the anicent east.
Although, much of the port is now under water, many of the buildings have been uncovered reflecting the lavish lifestyle of the era. Even today, the ancient Roman theater is used for concerts by leading Israeli musicians. We stopped at the ruins of King Herod’s palace with its magnificent mosaic floors. On to the Hippodrome, remains of Roman streets, the Crusader Port and the newly uncovered excavations. No matter when you visit Caesarea it is a archaeological wonder!
