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Caesarea Maritima
Sign in to saveAlso known as Caesarea in Palaestina, Caesarea National Park
ancient Levantine city
Caesarea Maritima was an ancient city on the Mediterranean coast in the Levant region, built as a major port and administrative center. It matters historically as an important urban center of the ancient world that played a significant role in the region's economic and political life.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Wikidata facts
- Population
- 5343
- Elevation
- 20
- Official website
- www.parks.org.il/en/reserve-park/caesarea-national-park
- Image
- Caesarea maritima (DerHexer) 2011-08-02 098.jpg
Show 5 more facts
- Commons category
- Caesarea Maritima
- inception
- 0013-00-00
- dissolved, abolished or demolished date
- 1265-01-01
- native label
- קֵיסָרְיָה
- P12749
- Sixtus of Tannberg
Sources (9)
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Article
Caesarea (/ˌsɛzəˈriːə, ˌsɛs-, ˌsiːz-/), also Caesarea Maritima, Caesarea Palaestinae or Caesarea Stratonis, was an ancient and medieval port city on the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, and later a small fishing village. It was the capital of Roman Judaea, Syria Palaestina and Palaestina Prima, successively, for a period of c. 650 years and a major intellectual hub of the Mediterranean. Today, the site is part of the Caesarea National Park, on the western edge of the Sharon plain in Israel.
The site was first settled in the 4th century BCE as a Phoenician colony and trading village known as Straton's Tower after the ruler of Sidon. It was enlarged in the 1st century BCE under Hasmonean rule, becoming a Jewish village; and in 63 BCE, when the Roman Republic annexed the region, it was declared an autonomous city. It was then significantly enlarged in the Roman period by the Judaean client King Herod the Great, who established a harbour and dedicated the town and its port to Caesar Augustus as Caesarea.