Places to visit in Tel Aviv-Yafo, חיפה, Sdot Yam, Caesarea
Haifa, Caesarea
Mount Carmel overlooks the entire north of the country to the border with Lebanon. The mountains in the distance are the upper Galilee. Closer and gentler - Lower Galilee. You can see the Kishon Valley and an oil refinery built by the British at the foot of the mountains. Nearby is the port, also built during the rule of the English empire. The street as straight as an arrow rises from the port to the mountain with houses on both sides with red-tiled roofs - named Ben Gurion boulevard is the main street of the former German colony. The middle part of the slope - Adar - is a Jewish city. Here, in the middle of a grove, you can see a gray dome - the building of the Technion - a famous university in the country established in the 1920s with donations from the Moscow tea house of the Vysotskys.
The Bahá'í Garden is settled on 19 terraces around the tomb with the golden dome. The tomb is the burial place of the founder of the faith. , this religion was born In the 19th century, and its main values are equality, harmony, and beauty.
The Bahai Gardens emphasize the beauty of the landscape combined with a variety of plants, trees, and architecture.
In front of the monastery church Stella Maris there is a mass grave of the soldiers of Napoleon's army. Napoleon was unable to capture the city of Acre, which is located on the opposite side of Haifa Bay. Napoleon retreated, leaving the wounded and sick soldiers in the monastery. The Arab ruler of Akko - El Jazar burst into the monastery after the departure of the main troops and killed everyone who was in it.
The palace of King Herod the Great was located between the theater and the hippodrome and overlooked the sea with a cascade of beautiful pools and terraces. In the same palace, the Roman governors ruled over Judea after the death of Herod. A memorial stone that has survived to this day mentions Pontius Pilate, the Roman ruler of Judea. He occupied this palace as a permanent residence and went to Jerusalem, where he condemned Jesus Christ to be executed.
The Byzantines inherited Caesarea from the Romans and rebuilt the city in their own way. The buildings became smaller, the mosaics were simpler, and the Christian characters replaced the pagan symbols. However, the city's general plan did not change much, except the entertainment facilities. The hippodrome and later the theater was abandoned. Crafts and trade flourished. There was a public toilet at the crossroads of the streets, shops along with the pedestrian's pavements, taverns, and city warehouses descended to the seashore.
Byzantine Caesarea consisted of blocks of buildings grided by straight streets, each of which bore the meaning of cardo or decumanus - the main street and the secondary one. The quarters were intended for specific needs: for example, the quarter of public baths, or warehouses, or shopping arcades.
Caesarea during the time of the Crusaders was much smaller than in Byzantine times. The city was surrounded by a fortress wall built with his own hands by King of the Franks Louis the Ninth. A wide moat filled with water ran at the foot of the fortress walls. A drawbridge threw over the moat led into the city from three sides: east, north, and south. In the west, there was a seaport - an only linking of Caesarea to Europe.
The famous Caesarean port - a unique engineering solution and a brilliant technical implementation, has survived to this day in small fragments. By the time of ottoman rulers, the inner water area turned into dry land. Today it is covered with a lawn.
Don't be afraid to get lost in new places!
