The Crusaders built their city on a small portion of the Roman and Byzantine Caesarea. We enter through the main (eastern) Crusader gate. We ascend (to the left) the artificial platform that Herod erected to support his temple to Augustus, of which the foundation walls remain. We walk to a point overlooking the sea. 

From here we notice, first, the houses of a Muslim village -- Bosnian, in fact, for the Ottomans settled Bosnians here in 1884. (These intermarried with their Arab Muslim neighbors.) The village stood (until the war of 1948) on Herod's sanded-in inner harbor (the lawn in the picture).  In the water, we can see a dark strip (red arrow). That is the ruin of the southern breakwater, which started just under us to the left and stretched in a broad curve for 800 meters, protecting ships against storms from the south and west. (The most violent winter storms wheel from south to west.) Below is a view with more contrast.

Now we look to the right (north). We see white water and a modern quay. Beyond it, farther to the right, is another dark strip: Herod's northern breakwater, which extended for 280 meters. The two moles almost met at a lighthouse, like a pair of embracing arms. One could close the opening with a chain.   Here was a great piece of work -- and all human-made! When Herod's people built these moles, the sea was shallow. Divers cleared the bottom. Workmen hauled a wooden form into place, which was weighted with rocks. They poured the cement mix, including a volcanic ash from Vesuvius called pozzolana. The mixture took several months to dry under water, then they made the next step... and so on for thirteen years, from 23 till 10 BC.

Herod named the harbor Sebastos, Greek for Augustus. It was mainly a harbor for wintering. 
The rainy season was risky at sea. Cargo ships, each with a capacity of 500 tons, would wait here for the spring, loading up with the spices and perfumes of the East. Or if need be, the harbor master could pack a hundred Roman warships in.

For all the technical knowledge, however, there were no geologists on the team. Herod didn't know he was building over fault lines. We are not sure how long Sebastos lasted (perhaps only a century). Earthquakes have increased the depth, and all one sees of that ancient wonder is under the surface.

Garo Nalbandian took this photograph before the excavation of the hippodrome, and before the area in front of the podium got its lawn (which appears in the first two photographs above). For another aerial overview and more detailed explanations, see the website, digcaesarea (drag on the margins to enlarge the window)

Caesarea Maritima: Introduction

The Harbor

Caesarea and Christianity

The Theatre and the Death of Herod Agrippa

The Hippodrome (Amphitheatre) and Palace

The Aqueducts

Logistical information for a visit to the site

© 2003 Near East Tourist Agency (NET)

Text © 2003 Stephen Langfur