Today we left the home of Raquel and took off for Caesarea, which is about 30 minutes north along the coast. Caesarea is one of Israel's major archaeological sites. In 22 BC, Herod the Great built a city and port over he site of an ancient Phoenician port and dedicated it to Augustus Caesar, his mentor. Flavius Josephus, the first century AC historian, wrote about the site and especially the port that had never been developed at that size before. The site had a long history after Herod, who built a Roman Theater, an Amphitheater for chariot rides and other games, a grand palace going out the the sea, and the port, all in 12 years. To the far north of the site, later leaders built a long aqueduct to supply the area with fresh water, and part of it still stands today. After Herod's death in 6 AD, Caesarea became the seat of the Roman procurators and became a Roman colony for 600 years. The city was then taken over by the Byzantines until the Crusaders came and took over in 1101. The city then became Muslim some time after that. It is only since the 1960's that Israel started excavating the location. We walked around the whole area for a little over two hours. It was just amazing to see all the ruins from Herod's time and then at the different steps since then. It was a great visit!
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