Via Dolorosa and Caesarea Maritima in Palestine
Wednesday, 26 February 2014 - 01:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Levant / LevanteCategory/Kategorie: General, Museums, Exhibitions, UNESCO World Heritage, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time: 6 minutes
Via Dolorosa © magister
The Via Dolorosa is a street, in two parts, within the Old City of Jerusalem, held to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion. The winding route from the Antonia Fortress west to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre—a distance of about 600 metres (2,000 feet)—is a celebrated place of Christian pilgrimage. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions. It is today marked by nine Stations of the Cross; there have been fourteen stations since the late 15th century, with the remaining five stations being inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Each Friday, a Roman Catholic procession walks the Via Dolorosa route, starting out at the monastic complex by the first station; the procession is organized by the Franciscans of this monastery, who also lead the procession. Acted re-enactments also regularly take place on the route, ranging from amateur productions with, for example, soldiers wearing plastic helmets and vivid red polyester wraps, to more professional drama with historically accurate clothing and props.
Read more on Wikipedia Via Dolorosa.
Caesarea National Park © Bukvoed/cc-by-3.0
Today, Caesarea Maritima is a national park on the Israeli coastline, near the town of Caesarea. The ancient Caesarea Maritima, actually Caesarea Palestinae, city and harbor was built by Herod the Great about 25–13 BCE. The city has been populated through the late Roman and Byzantine era (Palaestina Prima province). Caesarea Maritima was named in honor of Augustus Caesar. The city became the seat of the Roman prefect soon after its foundation. Caesarea was the “administrative capital” beginning in 6 CE. This city is the location of the 1961 discovery of the Pilate Stone, the only archaeological item that mentions the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, by whose order Jesus was crucified. It is likely that Pilate used Caesarea as a base, and only went to Jerusalem when needed.
Herod built his palace on a promontory jutting out into the sea, with a decorative pool surrounded by stoas. In 6CE, Caesarea became the civilian and military capital of Judaea Province and the official residence of the Roman procurators and governors, Pontius Pilatus, praefectus and Antonius Felix. Remains of the principal buildings erected by Herod and the medieval town are still visible today, including the city walls, the castle and a Crusader cathedral and church. Caesarea grew rapidly, becoming the largest city in Judea, with an estimated population of 125,000 over an urban area of 3.7 square kilometres (1.4 sq mi).
When it was built in the 1st century BC, Sebastos Harbor ranked as the largest artificial harbor built in the open sea, enclosing around 100,000 m². King Herod built the two jetties of the harbor between 22 and 15 BC, and in 10/9 BC he dedicated the city and harbor to Caesar. The pace of construction was impressive considering size and complexity. The breakwaters were made of lime and pozzolana, a type of volcanic ash, set into an underwater concrete. Herod imported over 24,000 m³ pozzolana from Pozzuoli, Italy, to construct the two breakwaters: the 500 meter long on the south and the 275 meter long on the north. A shipment of this size would have required at least 44 shiploads of 400 tons each. Herod also had 12,000 m³ of kurkar quarried to make rubble and 12,000 m³ of slaked lime mixed with the pozzolana.
Archaeological excavations in the 1950s and 1960s uncovered remains from many periods, in particular, a complex of Crusader fortifications and a Roman theatre. Other buildings include a temple dedicated to Caesar; a hippodrome rebuilt in the 2nd century as a more conventional theater; the Tiberieum, which has a limestone block with a dedicatory inscription. This is the only archaeological find with an inscription mentioning the name “Pontius Pilatus”; a double aqueduct that brought water from springs at the foot of Mount Carmel; a boundary wall; and a 200 ft (60 m) wide moat protecting the harbour to the south and west. The harbor was the largest on the eastern Mediterranean coast.
Caesarea has recently become the site of what bills itself as the world’s first underwater museum, where 36 points of interest on four marked underwater trails through the ancient harbor can be explored by divers equipped with waterproof maps.
Read more on touristisrael.com – Caesarea Maritima and Wikipedia Caesarea Maritima (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.
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