The doors heading to the Crusaders fortress!!!!!!!As we step into what seems like another world, it shows the hunger and passion of one man's dream to have it all and to have it his way..........It shows how power hungry Herod truly was......As we step into a time zone unfamiliar but have read about we gasp................"The vacant amphitheater."
We continue to take in Herod's dream.....you can't help but think about the number of Jews and Christians who lost their life here.....Amazingly this is where our life as a "gentile," changed forever............Peter opened the way for the very FIRST gentiles to come to the one true God....... He made his very first direct convert to Christianity in Caesarea, of a man named: CORNELIUS.......Herod later imprisoned Peter in Jerusalem during Passover, but he escaped and made his way to Caesarea and from there he set sail for Rome and on into history................Paul was also imprisoned here for two years before being sent to Rome from this very port..................
This amazing city is located somewhere between Tel Aviv and Haifa.......In the early Middle Ages, Caesarea traded hands several times between the Muslims and the Crusaders......What is left behind now is mostly from the Crusaders time..........The ancient city is now more an archaelogical park located on the Mediterrean Sea 33 miles north of Joppa....and 60 miles northwest of Jerusalem.......
Remains from the Crusader's city...... (graceful ruins by the sea)...................................
Roman theater built by King Herod....Herod indeed planned an entire city, based on the Roman model.....He including several palaces and one specifically for the Roman governor of Judea.....Herod named the city for the emperor Augustus and its crowning glory was its sea-side port.......The Roman governor "PONTIUS PILATE," (who condemned Jesus to be executed), lived at Caesarea and a plaque bearing his name and a recording a dedication he made had been found....
Restored Roman pillars show where the originals once surrounded an open courtyard in Herod's Caesarea palace.........................
This is where the spectators sat as they watched the sport of the innocent pitted against animals and men fighting against men......In spite of the horror of what took place here there is an energy here....It survived the rule of the Romans and was lifted up by prayers of the faithful...... The stories of Cornelius, Philip, Philip's four daughters, and the Jews who stood faithful, against all this horror........ The Ocean's breeze is refreshing as we move on through the remains of what changed a spot in time for us the gentiles...........Ironically we were grafted into the kingdom of Christ, in one of the most materialistic and pagan cities in the Holy Land......
These ruins are as impressive as any in Israel....The visual impact of the Crusaders arches, crumbling walls and smashed pillars proves the layered history that was once alive here.................................
The horse track is in remarkable condition........................
Caesarea was the Queen of the Coast......and the largest Roman port in the eastern Mediterranean......It took Herod around 12 years to build the actual city...It's harbor alone was amazing....Around 1,800 feet long and 160 feet wide- perched on massive walls sunken into the Sea bed, and a huge lighthouse with an ever burning beacon to guide the ships to the shore.......
