Caesarea Maritima

The ruins of ancient Caesarea are located on the Mediterranean coast, half way between Tel Aviv and Haifa, Israel. Herod the Great built Caesarea Maritima to honor his patron, Caesar Augustus about 25–13 BC. I visited in July, 2007 while recording footage for an upcoming documentary on the life of Apostle Peter. The book of Acts records that in Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort. Peter met Cornelius and converted him to Christianity. Caesarea harbor is one of the most significant engineering feats of the ancient world, Herod’s engineers filled barges with sand, floated them into position and then sank them in a circle, thus forming the harbor. Once Roman ships had a safe place to dock, Caesarea became a major seaport. Eventually, time and the sea washed the sand footings away.