CAESAREA NATIONAL PARK

As far as remains are concerned, the main points of interest are the port (with the city's fortifications and a number of relics from different eras, including that of the Crusaders), the hippodrome and the Roman amphitheatre. In the tourist area (the old port), "Time Travel" is a multimedia experience consisting of several films that give you a better understanding of Caesarea's evolution. In the ^20th century, Baron de Rothschild was responsible for the complete restoration of the site. The Caesarea Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Development Corporation (CDC) now manages the site and the surrounding area. The entrance ticket is valid not only for the national park, which houses the archaeological site, but also for some of the attractions in the tourist zone.

The Roman amphitheatre stands at the southern end of the national park and was built by the emperor Vespasian. King Herod later enlarged it, before it was destroyed in the ^3rd century. People from all walks of life came here to watch dramas and comedies. The structure of the theater follows classical Roman models: a semicircle, blocks of cavea (seats) separated by vomitoria (entrances and exits), the arena and orchestra (stage area) which, in Caesarea, had a high and impressive scaenae frons (backdrop), and finally underground rooms, a kind of backstage area for the actors. Today, some of the original seats can still be admired, along with marble decorations dating from the ^2nd c. Nothing remains of the scaenae frons.

Herod's palace. Admire the remains of an inner courtyard in the guest wing of the magnificent palace of Herod (who would never have stayed in Caesarea himself!). The palace had two guest floors and a central section built at the western end of this courtyard, on a sort of peninsula jutting out into the sea. The remains of this fabulous palace are now partly underwater. Some scholars maintain that the palace did not date from Herod's time, as it was too close to the city's major public buildings (the theater and the hippodrome): Herod, a very suspicious king, would not have built his private palace nearby. In any case, over the years, the palace fell into ruin, and very little remains. The remains of a swimming pool can still be seen, probably supplied with fresh water by the city's aqueducts. A mosaic floor has also been discovered next to the pool.