Caesarea

An artificial harbour-city built by Herod the Great and named in honour of his patron Augustus Caesar, Caesarea was located on the Mediterranean coast about 85km (as the crow flies) north-west of Jerusalem. It eventually became—and remained—one of the most important ports in the region until it was sacked by the invading Muslims in the 7th Cent. Here was located also the official residence of the Roman prefects who ruled Judea. The city had a largely mixed Gentile population and, as Pontius Pilate had to learn the hard way when he was posted there as the prefect, Jews in Judea would allow for things here that they would not permit in vehemently-Jewish Jerusalem.

Though Jesus himself did not seem to have visited the city, Caesarea is associated with a number of important events and persons, including Philip the evangelist (Acts 8), Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10), the death of Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12), and Paul the prisoner of Felix and Festus (Acts 23-25).

View ancient Caesarea from the air ☰