Herod the Great ruled the Land of Israel from 37 to 4 B.C. During that time he constructed a large port city called Caesarea to honor Roman Caesar Augustus. The project was built on the remains of an earlier Phoenician city called Strato’s tower.

Once it was completed Caesarea took on even more importance than Jerusalem and became the heart of Roman rule in the land. Herod built a port in the bay, and erected all the cultural institutions found in every great Greco-Roman city a theater, a hippodrome, and a luxurious bathhouse. In order to supply water to the city’s ever-growing population, he prepared an aqueduct system stretching from the springs of Mt. Carmel to Caesarea. Part of this system is still visible today.

The book of Acts refers repeatedly to the city Peter visited Caesarea (Acts 10); Paul was held prisoner in Caesarea for two years (Acts 23:23-23:30), while awaiting trial. It was from here Paul sailed to Rome (Acts 27:1). Origen and Eisehous were both important Christians of Caesarea. The city was eventually destroyed by the Moslem invasions of 638.

About 400 years later, the Crusaders conquered the Holy Land. Genoese fleet set up a command port on the ruins of the former city. Then dependent on a constant maritime connection to Europe, they fortified the city, using parts of Herod’s destroyed buildings and turned it into one of their main bastions along the Mediterranean coast.