We went to Caesarea after dark to see the ruins & have dinner near Herod's Port on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.

Caesarea is an impressive archaeological site – one of the best in Israel - well documented history. The city was constructed by Herod (40-4 b.c.e.?) over an ancient Phoenician port. The port he constructed was to compete with the one in Alexandria, Egypt. Caesarea also was the seat of Roman power in Israel and was a grand city in those times. Only part of the original Roman city has been discovered. Biblical connection: After Paul visited Jerusalem (he was advised not to go), he was sent in chains to Caesarea, accused of heresy. During the Roman pogroms against the Jews in 60-70 c.e., thousands of Jews were slaughtered in Caesarea. Leaders of the Jewish rebellion against Rome were tortured here and many early Christians were executed here. Caesarea then became a Byzantine capital until the Arabs conquered it in 640 c.e. During the Byzantine period, some Jews lived here – also home of a bishop who oversaw the Christians of the eastern Mediterranean. Crusaders conquered (and slaughtered) the Arabs in Caesarea around 1100 c.e. Soon thereafter Muslims recaptured the town. An Arab village was present here before the 1948 war of independence. Its Arab inhabitants vacated the village during that war.