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Caesarea harbor
at Sunset
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Herod the Great ruled the Land of Israel from 37 to 4 B.C. During that
time he constructed a large port city called Caesarea to honor
Roman
Caesar Augustus Caesar. It was capital of the Roman province of
Judea during Jesus Day, The project was built on the remains of an earlier
Phoenician city called Strato’s tower.
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Once it was completed Caesarea took on even more
importance than Jerusalem and became the heart of
Roman rule in the land.
Herod built a port in the bay, and erected all the cultural institutions
found in every great Greco-Roman city – a theater, a hippodrome, and a
luxurious bathhouse. In order to supply water to the city’s ever-growing
population, he prepared an aqueduct system stretching from the springs of
Mt. Carmel to Caesarea. Part of this system is still visible today. |
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AT the book of Acts refers repeatedly to the city
Peter
visited Caesarea (Acts 10); Paul was held prisoner in Caesarea for two years
(Acts 23:23-23:30), while awaiting trial. It was from here Paul sailed to
Rome (Acts 27:1). Origen and
Eusebius were both important Christians of
Caesarea. The city was eventually destroyed by the Moslem invasions of 638.
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About 400 years later, the Crusaders conquered the Holy
Land. Genoese fleet set up a command port on the ruins of the former city.
Then dependent on a constant maritime connection to Europe, they fortified
the city, using parts of Herod’s destroyed buildings and turned it into one
of their main bastions along the Mediterranean coast.
Two aqueducts were built to bring water from the
Mount Carmel ridge in north down to the
city. Originally built as a single channel, a second channel was later added
as the city grew. The lower channel obtained water from the foothills of the
ridge about nine miles away, from springs which were natural to that area.
The second, higher channel added later went further to find a second water
source. A tunnel had to be cut through a low ridge inland. |
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