Straton's Tower Stratonos pyrgos (Straton's Tower) was founded in the 4th century BCE by
Abdashtart I, or Straton I king of
Sidon. It was first established as a
Phoenician colony and trading village. The pagan city underwent vast changes under Herod, who renamed it Caesarea in honour of the Roman emperor,
Caesar Augustus.In 22 BCE, Herod began construction of a deep-sea harbour named Sebastos and built storerooms, markets, wide roads, baths, a temple to the
goddess Roma and Emperor
Augustus, and imposing public buildings. Herod built his palace on a promontory jutting out into the sea, with a decorative pool surrounded by
stoas.
Sebastos harbor Herod built the two
jetties of the harbour between 22 and 15 BCE, and in 10/9 BCE he dedicated the city and harbour to Emperor Augustus (
sebastos is Greek for
augustus). The pace of construction was impressive considering the project's size and complexity. At its height, Sebastos was one of the most impressive harbours of its time. It had been constructed on a coast that had no natural harbours and served as an important commercial harbour in antiquity, rivaling
Cleopatra's harbour at
Alexandria.
Josephus writes: "Although the location was generally unfavorable, [Herod] contended with the difficulties so well that the solidity of the construction could not be overcome by the sea, and its beauty seemed finished off without impediment." When it was built in the 1st century BCE, the harbour of Sebastos ranked as the largest artificial harbour built in the open sea, enclosing around 100,000 m2. The
breakwaters were made of
lime and
pozzolana, a type of volcanic ash, set into an underwater concrete. Herod imported over 24,000 m3 of pozzolana from the name-giving town of
Puteoli, today Pozzuoli in Italy, to construct the two breakwaters: the southern one 500 meter, and the northern one 275 meter long. Architects had to devise a way to lay the wooden forms for the placement of concrete underwater. One technique was to drive stakes into the ground to make a box and then fill it with pozzolana concrete bit by bit. Although the box had no bottom, it was buoyant enough to float out to sea because of the watertight space between the inner and outer walls. Once it was floated into position, pozzolana was poured into the gap between the walls and the box would sink into place on the seafloor and be staked down in the corners. The flooded inside area was then filled by divers bit by bit with pozzolana-lime mortar and kurkar rubble until it rose
above sea level. Although it is unknown if this tsunami simply damaged or completely destroyed the harbour, it is known that by the 6th century the harbour was unusable and today the jetties lie more than 5 meters underwater.
Capital of Roman province to Caesarea When
Judea became a Roman province in 6 CE, Caesarea replaced
Jerusalem as its civilian and military capital and became the official residence of its governors, such as procurator
Antonius Felix and prefect
Pontius Pilatus. The city was chiefly a commercial centre relying on trade. Caeserea is described in detail by the 1st-century Roman Jewish historian
Flavius Josephus. Josephus describes the harbour as being as large as the one at
Piraeus, the major harbour of
Athens. Emperor
Vespasian raised its status to that of a
Colonia, with the name
Colonia Prima Flavia Augusta Caesarea. According to Josephus, the outbreak of the
Jewish revolt of 66 CE was provoked by Greeks of a certain merchant house in Caesarea sacrificing birds in front of a local synagogue. In 70 CE, after the Jewish revolt was suppressed, games were held there to celebrate the victory of
Titus. Many Jewish captives were brought to Caesarea; Kasher claims that 2,500 captives were "slaughtered in
gladiatorial games". In the aftermath of the
Bar Kokhba revolt Caesarea was changed to
Syria Palaestina in 135. Caesarea was one of four Roman colonies for veteran Roman soldiers in the Syria-Phoenicia region. Caesarea is mentioned in the 3rd-century
Mosaic of Rehob, with respect to its non-Jewish population.
Centre of Early and Byzantine Christianity; bishopric According to the
Acts of the Apostles, Caesarea was first introduced to Christianity by
Philip the Deacon, who later had a house there in which he gave hospitality to
Paul the Apostle. It was there that
Peter the Apostle baptized
Cornelius the Centurion and his household, the first time Christian
baptism was conferred on
Gentiles. When newly converted Paul was in danger in Jerusalem, the Christians there accompanied him to Caesarea and sent him off to his native
Tarsus. He visited Caesarea between his second and third missionary journeys. Paul was a prisoner in Caesarea for two years before being sent to Rome. In the
3rd century,
Origen wrote his
Hexapla and other exegetical and theological works while living in Caesarea. The
Nicene Creed may have originated in Caesarea. The
Apostolic Constitutions says that the first
Bishop of Caesarea was
Zacchaeus the Publican, followed by Cornelius (possibly Cornelius the Centurion) and Theophilus (possibly the recipient of the
Gospel of Luke). The first bishops considered historically attested are those mentioned by the early church historian
Eusebius of Caesarea, who was the bishop of the see in the 4th century. He speaks of
Theophilus who was bishop in the 10th year of
Commodus (c. 189), of Theoctistus (216–258), Domnus, and Theotecnus, and
Agapius. Among the participants in the
Synod of Ancyra in 314 was the bishop of Caesarea named Agricolaus, who may have been the immediate predecessor of Eusebius, who does not mention him, or who may have been bishop of a different Caesarea. The immediate successors of Eusebius were
Acacius (340–366) and
Gelasius (367–372, 380–395). The latter was ousted by the semi-
Arian Euzoius between 373 and 379. French historian
Michel Le Quien gives much information about all of these and about later bishops of Caesarea. The
Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem has a metropolitan see in Caesarea. The Latin
archbishopric of Caesarea in Palestina was made a Roman Catholic
titular see in 1432. The
Melkite Catholic Church considers Caesarea a titular see. The library is mentioned as late as 6th-century manuscripts, but it may not have survived the capture of Caesarea by the Muslim armies in 640.
Byzantine period During the
Byzantine period, Caesarea became the capital of the province of
Palaestina Prima in 390. Caesarea was also the metropolitan see, with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Jerusalem, when rebuilt after its destruction in 70. In 451, however, the
Council of Chalcedon established Jerusalem as a
patriarchate, with Caesarea as the first of its three subordinate metropolitan sees. Caesarea remained the provincial capital throughout the 5th and 6th centuries. It fell to
Sassanid Persia in the
Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628,
in 614, and was re-conquered by Byzantium in 625.
Early Muslim period , circa 8th century period) jewelry from Caesarea in 1101. Described as an object with miraculous properties in 12th-century literature, including the
Historia of
William of Tyre, it was only identified as the
Holy Grail in the 13th century by
Jacobus de Voragine. Seized and taken to Paris by Napoleon in 1805, it was damaged when it was returned to Genoa in 1816, which served to prove that it was made of glass, not emerald. Caesarea was lost for good by the Byzantines to the
Muslim conquest in 640. Archaeological excavations discovered a
destruction layer connected to the Muslim conquest of the city. According to 9th-century Muslim historian
al-Baladhuri, the fall of the city was the result of the betrayal of a certain Yusef, who conducted a party of troops of
Muawiyah into the city. The city appears to have been partially destroyed upon its conquest. The 7th-century Coptic bishop
John of Nikiû, claims there were "horrors committed in the city of Caesarea in Palestine", while al-Baladhuri merely states that Kaisariyyah/Cæsarea was "reduced", mentioning it as one of ten towns in
Jund Filastin (military district of Palestine) conquered by the Muslim
Rashidun army under
'Amr ibn al-'As's leadership during the 630s. After the fall of Caesarea, 4,000 "heads" (captives), men, women and children, were sent to Caliph
Umar in Medina, where they were gathered and inspected on the Jurd Plain, a plain commonly used to assemble the troops of Medina before battle, with room for thousands of people, before they were distributed as war booty to
slavery in the Rashidun Caliphate. The former Palaestina Prima became
Jund Filastin, with the capital first at
Ludd and then at
Ramla. The city likely remained inhabited for some time under Arab rule, during the 7th and 8th centuries, albeit with much reduced population. Archaeological evidence shows a clear destruction layer identified with the conquest of 640, followed by some evidence of renewed settlement in the early
Umayyad Caliphate. The area was farmed from the Rashidun Caliphate through to the
First Crusade. By the 11th century, it appears that the town had once again been developed into a fortified city. Writing in 1047,
Nasir Khusraw describes it as "a fine city, with running waters, and palm-gardens, and orange and citron trees. Its walls are strong, and it has an iron gate. There are fountains that gush out within the city". Nasir Khusraw notes a "beautiful
Friday mosque" in Caesarea, "so situated that in its court you may sit and enjoy the view of all that is passing on the sea."
Crusader/Ayyubid and Mamluk periods in 1251 Caesarea was taken by
Baldwin I in the wake of the
First Crusade, in 1101. Baldwin sent a message to
emir of Caesarea, demanding him to surrender the city or face a siege, but the Muslims refused. On May 2, 1101, Baldwin began sieging the city with
trebuchets. After 15 days of resistance, the Crusader army broke through the defenses. Like in
Jerusalem in 1099, the Crusaders proceeded to slaughter a portion of the male populace, enslave the women and children, and loot the city.
William of Tyre describes the use of catapults and siege towers, and states that the city was taken in an assault after 15 days of siege and given over to looting and pillaging.
Syriac Orthodox patriarch Michael the Syrian (born ca. 1126) records that the city was "devastated upon its capture". Baldwin spared the emir and
qadi for a hefty ransom. Baldwin appointed a cleric veteran of the First Crusade, also named Baldwin, as the Latin archbishop of Caesarea. The city was under
Crusader control between 1101 and 1187 and again between 1191 and 1265. William of Tyre mentions the discovery of a "vessel of the most green colour, in the shape of a serving dish" (
vas coloris viridissimi, in modum parapsidis formatum) which the
Genuese thought to be made of
emerald, and accepted as their share of the spoils. This refers to the hexagonal bowl known as the
Sacro Catino in Italian, which was brought to Genoa by
Guglielmo Embriaco and was later identified as the
Holy Chalice. Caesarea was incorporated as a
lordship (dominion) within the
Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the Latin
See of Caesarea was established, with ten archbishops listed for the period 1101–1266 (treated as
titular see from 1432–1967). Archbishop
Heraclius attended the
Third Lateran Council in 1179.
Saladin recaptured the city in 1187, but it was once again captured by the Crusaders during the
Third Crusade in 1191. In 1251 during the
Seventh Crusade,
Louis IX of France fortified the city, ordering the construction of high walls (parts of which are still standing) and a deep moat. By the 12th century, Spanish-Jewish explorer
Benjamin of Tudela recorded only 200 Jews and 200 Samaritans in Caesarea, a sharp decline from the much larger populations reported in the 7th century. This reduction aligns with the fact that the city's enclosed area had shrunk by more than 85 percent between the Byzantine and Fatimid periods. Baibars destroyed the fortified city completely to prevent its re-emergence as a Crusader stronghold, in line with the Mamluk practice in other former Crusader coastal cities. During the Mamluk period, the ruins of ancient Caesarea and of the Crusader fortified town lay uninhabited. In the 18th century it again declined. In 1806, the German explorer
Ulrich Jasper Seetzen saw "Káisserérie" as a ruin occupied by some poor fishermen and their families. In 1870, French explorer
Victor Guérin visited the site.
Bosniak village The village of Qisarya () was allocated in 1880 to
Bushnak (
Bosniak) immigrants from
Bosnia. The Bosniaks had emigrated to the area after
Ottoman Bosnia was
occupied by
Austria-Hungary in 1878. According to
historian Roy Marom,Fifty families of Bosnian refugees, mostly from
Mostar, the main urban center of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, settled among the ruins of Caesarea, renaming it with the Arabic name of Qisarya. Using the ancient masonry found on site, the settlers constructed a modern town with spacious accommodations and broad intersecting streets, according to traditional Bosnian town-plans. The town had two mosques, a
caravanserai, a
marketplace, a residence for the
mudir, a harbor and
custom offices. Qisarya attracted high-ranking Bosnian functionaries who established estates near Qisarya. The town was declared the seat of a
mudirieh (a minor administrative division).A population list from about 1887 showed that Caesarea had 670 inhabitants, in addition to 265 Muslim inhabitants, who were noted as "Bosniaks". Petersen, visiting the place in 1992, noted that the 19th-century houses were built in blocks, generally one story high, with the exception of the house of the governor. Some houses on the western side of the village, near the sea, had survived. There were several mosques in the village in the 19th century, but only one ("The Bosnian mosque") has survived. This mosque, located at the southern end of the city, next to the harbour, is described as a simple stone building with a red-tiled roof and a cylindrical minaret.
Bayyarat al-Khuri estate In the early 20th century, the
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem established
Bayyarat al-Khuri ('The Priest’s Orchard') as an ecclesiastical agricultural estate within the confines of the Roman hippodrome, southeast of the late Ottoman Bosnian town. The complex—sometimes misidentified on British maps as a “Greek convent”—comprised a monumental limestone gateway bearing the
taphos monogram of the
Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, a manually filled
sabil (drinking fountain), a well house powered by a locally manufactured diesel engine, and a large plastered stepped water pool that fed open irrigation channels for citrus, date, and olive plots. In Addition, the Patriarchate owned extensive properties within the Bosnian town, including St. Paul’s supposed Prison Cellar, and the remnants of Caesarea’s Crusader cathedral. The Church properties inside the Bosnian town served as an occasional retreat for Church elders.
British Mandate In the
1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the
British Mandate authorities, Caesarea had a population of 346; 288 Muslims, 32 Christians and 26 Jews, where the Christians were 6 Orthodox, 3 Syrian Orthodox, 3 Roman Catholics, 4
Melkites, 2 Syrian Catholics and 14
Maronite. The population had increased in the
1931 census to 706; 19 Christians, 4 Druse and 683 Muslims, in 143 houses. During the
Arab Revolt in 1938 the resident priest, Father Hanna al-Khuri, was abducted and killed. In 1944/45 a total of 18
dunums of Muslim village land was used for citrus and bananas, 1,020 dunums were used for cereals, while 108 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, while 111 dunams were built-up (urban) land.
Kibbutz Sdot Yam reused Bayyarat al-Khuri for agriculture in the 1940s. The 31 January 1948
Lehi attack on a bus leaving Qisarya, which killed two and injured six people, precipitated an evacuation of most of the population, who fled to nearby
al-Tantura. The
Haganah then occupied the village because the land was owned by the
Palestine Jewish Colonization Association and, fearing that the British would force them to leave, decided to demolish the houses. In the same month the 'Arab al Sufsafi and Saidun
Bedouin, who inhabited the dunes between Qisarya and
Pardes left the area.
Israel In 1952, the Jewish town of
Caesarea was established to the north of the ruins of the old city, which in 2011 were incorporated into the newly created Caesarea
National Park. In 1992, Palestinian historian
Walid Khalidi described the village remains: "Most of the houses have been demolished. The site has been excavated in recent years, largely by Italian, American, and Israeli teams, and turned into a tourist area. Most of the few remaining houses are now restaurants, and the village mosque has been converted into a bar." Since 2000, the site of Caesarea is included in the "Tentative List of World Heritage Places" of the
UNESCO. ==Archaeology and reconstruction==