Caesarea Maritima

Biblical References

Acts 9:30

After his conversion, and "speaking boldly in the name of the Lord" (NIV) in Jerusalem, Paul the former persecutor is persecuted himself. He is then removed to the safety of his home town, Tarsus, via Caesarea.

Acts 18:22 - Second Missionary Journey

The description of Paul's return to Syrian Antioch, from Ephesus at the end of the second missionary journey, is contracted into two verses: Ephesus, Caesarea (Maritima), Jerusalem, Antioch.

Acts 21:8-14 - Third Missionary Journey

When Paul returned to Jerusalem from Asia Minor, for the final time, his journey took him to Tyre, where he stayed for seven days (Acts 21:3-4), then to Ptolemais (21:5-7) before continuing to Caesarea Maritima. While there he was warned not to go to Jerusalem, but chose to do so anyway.

Acts 23:30-26:32 - Journey to Rome

After facing accusations from the ruling elite in Jerusalem, Paul was taken into protective custody and transferred to Caesarea Maritima. He remained under arrest, even through a change of Governor, until he believed his only recourse for a fair trial was to appeal to Caesar. As a result, he left Caesarea Maritima on his final journey to Rome.

The city and harbour of Caesarea Maritima had been built under Herod the Great but by the early first century AD it had become the seat of the governor of the Roman province of Judea, hence Paul's incarceration there.

Other references

Acts 8:40 - Philip preached the good news from Azotus (Ashdod) "...until he came to Caesarea." (NIV)

Acts 10:1; 24 - The location of Peter's encounter with Cornelius

Acts 11:11 - Mentioned during Peter's recollection of the events with Cornelius to the Jewish believers in Jerusalem.

Acts 12:19 - Herod 'retreats' to Caesarea after Peter's miraculous escape from prison.

Visiting the Site

I was able to visit Caesarea Maritima after the 2013 Study Tour when I took a personal journey to Israel with my wife, Suzanne. We took a bus north from Tel Aviv north and then changed buses to get to Caesarea. Unfortunately, nobody on that second bus spoke English and, we got to a point where we thought we were heading away from the site. We got off the bus at the next stop and walked the rest of the way - that was a long hot walk! Later we thought the bus may have looped back to the site! (Google maps seem to provide much better directions these days! )

After exiting the site, and a long wait for the bus that never showed, we took a taxi back to our change point to get the return bus to Te Aviv. It was an enjoyable, though tiring, adventure but, if there is a next time.... we might get a rental car!

This would be the most highly developed 'touristy' archaeological site I have been to. There are many commercial elements in amongst the remains of the old city. Most of the substantial Roman remains on the site are to the south of the main entrance.

Google Earth view

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