Caesarea

1. Roman theater

2. Palace

3. Hippodrome

4. Pagan temple

5. Harbor

This video of the ruins of Caesarea includes 3-D reconstructions, showing what some of the main buildings may have looked like. The city of Caesarea and its harbor were built by Herod the Great toward the end of the first century B.C.E. Herod named the city after Caesar Augustus. Located about 87 km (54 mi) northwest of Jerusalem on the Mediterranean Coast, Caesarea became an important maritime hub. The city included a Roman theater (1), a palace that extended into the sea (2), a hippodrome, or stadium for horse racing, that could hold an estimated 30,000 spectators (3), and a pagan temple (4). The man-made harbor (5) was an engineering marvel. An aqueduct supplied Caesarea with fresh water, and the city had its own sewer system. The apostle Paul and other Christians traveled to and from Caesarea by boat. (Ac 9:30; 18:21, 22; 21:7, 8, 16) Paul was imprisoned there for about two years. (Ac 24:27) Philip the evangelizer traveled to Caesarea at the end of a preaching tour and possibly settled there. (Ac 8:40; 21:8) Cornelius, the first uncircumcised Gentile to become a Christian, lived in that city. (Ac 10:1, 24, 34, 35, 45-48) It was probably in Caesarea that Luke wrote his Gospel.