I am a little out of the trip’s timeline with this
blog. Haifa was actually our second stop on our itinerary.
We left Tel Aviv the morning of Saturday, 12
September and headed north to Haifa. Haifa is Israel’s 3rd largest
city, behind Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. It is a mixed city which until 1948 was an
Arab city. After the war of Independence, the Jewish people became the majority
and took over homes deserted by the Arabs escaping the war.
As we drove North, Lior pointed out three
differences between a Jewish settlement and an Arab village. First, and foremost, you can immediately see
the mosques and minarets in an Arab village.
Secondly, Arab homes generally have a flat roof while Israeli homes have
red-tiled roofs. And lastly, most homes
in Israel have a barrel (and in many cases a solar panel attached to it) for
the collection and heating of water for the home (their version of our hot
water heater). In Arab homes, the
barrels are black, while in Jewish homes they are white. As we drove up the highway, you could see
many villages where Israelis and Arabs live in the same neighborhood.
Our first stop before Haifa was to Caesarea. Once the site of a Phoenician port, over the
course of 12 years Herod the Great built Caesarea into the grandest city other
than Jerusalem in Palestine, with a deep sea harbor, aqueduct, hippodrome and
magnificent amphitheater that remain standing today. Herod renamed the city
Caesarea in honor of the emperor Caesar Augustus. The population of Caesarea
was half gentile and half Jewish, often causing disputes among the people. In 6
CE, Caesarea became the home of the Roman governors (Procurators) of Judea. The
city remained the capital of Roman and Byzantine Palestine. The Great Revolt of 66-70 CE started in
Caesarea when the Jewish and Syrian communities began fighting over a pagan
ceremony conducted on Shabbat (Sabbath) near the entrance of a synagogue. The
Romans ignored the Jewish protests of this provocation and violence soon spread
throughout the country. When the Romans
finally quelled the revolt and razed Jerusalem, Caesarea became the capital of
Palestine, a status it maintained until the Roman Empire was Christianized by
the Emperor Constantine in 325 CE. As I
reported in an earlier blog, the Great Revolt finally ended in Masada with the
deaths of the Jewish Zealots in 73 AD.
Caesarea is an important site in Christian history.
It was the place where Pontius Pilate governed during the time of Jesus. This
was where Simon Peter converted the Roman, Cornelius, the first non-Jew to
believe in Jesus. Paul was also imprisoned for two years in Caesarea. During
the 3rd century, Caesarea was a center of Christian learning. In the 4th
century, the site converted to Christianity and became a major center of the
Christian Roman Empire.
In 640 AD, Caesarea was the last Palestinian city to
fall to the Muslim invaders. After the Muslims swept out of Arabia and across
the Middle East, driving out the Romans, Palestine was largely neglected. In
1101, the Crusaders captured the city under the leadership of Baldwin I and
turned it into a walled Crusader’s city, only to lose it in 1187 to
Saladin. Under the Crusader rule, the
Jewish community of Caesarea dwindled until in 1170 only 20 Jews remained.
In 1265, Caesarea fell to Baybars, the Mamluk sultan
of Egypt, who destroyed the city, which remained in ruins until 1884. In 1884,
a small fishing village was established on the remains at Caesarea by Muslim
refugees from Bosnia. The city was abandoned by its inhabitants during the War
of Independence (1948).
A trivia fact about Caesarea is that it is home to
Israel’s only golf course.
During our visit to Caesarea, we saw the theater and
hippodrome where chariot races where held during the Roman era. It was a brutally hot and humid day even
though we were by the water. After
exploring the ruins, we went to the little shopping area and had a dish of ice
cream. Today, Caesarea is a modern
sea-side tourist resort.
Following lunch we drove to Nazareth where we
visited the Church of Annunciation, the place where the Angel Gabriel told Mary
that she was going to have the son of God and where Jesus spent his childhood. Today Nazareth is the largest Arab city in
Israel and has about 30 churches and monasteries, as well as mosques and
ancient synagogues.
The Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth is a
modern Catholic church built over the remains of Byzantine and Crusader
churches. It incorporates the cave in which the Virgin Mary received the news
of the impending birth. Inside, the
lower level contains the Grotto of the Annunciation, believed by many
Christians to be the remains of the original childhood home of Mary.
The first shrine was built sometime in the middle of
the 4th century, comprising an altar in the cave in which Mary had lived. A
larger structure was commissioned by Emperor Constantine I, who had directed
his mother, Saint Helena, to found churches commemorating important events in
Jesus Christ's life. The Church of the Annunciation was founded around the same
time as the Church of the Nativity (the birthplace) and the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher (the tomb). The original was destroyed in the 7th century after the
Muslim conquest of Palestine.
The second church was built over the ruins of the
Byzantine era church during the Crusades, following the conquest of Nazareth by
Tancred in 1102, but this church was never fully completed. During the 14th century the
Franciscans built a monastery in Nazareth and by the 16th century
had gained control of this holy sight and built a small church on the
grounds. This church was demolished in
1955 to make way for the current church which was completed in 1969.
After our visit to the church, some of our group
visited a local mosque. By this time I
was so hot and tired that I just went to the bus. Bill went, but about the only interesting
fact about this mosque was that it originally started out as a church.
As
we left Nazareth, enroute to our hotel, Lior gave us all a sample of a Jewish
treat to try – Knaffeh – which is goat cheese covered by angel hair dough and
then baked in the oven. It is then
drizzled with honey – it was very, very good.
Our
final stop for the day was to a farmhouse where they made organic olive
oil. The daughter of the owners showed
us around and gave us a talk on how they make the olive oil. We then were able to taste some with the
vegetarian dinner they served us.
Although the food was good, it was not very filling (at least Bill
thought so).
Our
hotel was a beautiful little boutique hotel – Bay Club. It is located about halfway up Mt. Carmel and
has beautiful views. Even though we got
there rather late (about 8 PM), they still had a “Happy Hour” waiting for us
with free wine and beer and hot snacks.
What a great welcoming.
The next morning we took a trip to visit caves of
Rosh HaNikra. We walked through a series
of cavernous tunnels formed by the pounding of the sea on the white chalk
cliffs. The view of the Mediterranean
was beautiful. The caves are located at
the northern tip of Israel where it borders Lebanon. There was a military post there at the border
crossing and a young Israeli soldier came out to talk to us. He was very interesting, but he must have
been extremely hot in his heavy uniform and rifle with a large pouch of
ammunition. He was originally from
Brazil, but now lives in Israel. He said
he liked the military and had just extended his tour of duty with hope of going
to Officer’s Training.
We then continued on to our second stop – Akko. Akko was an ancient walled city, once known
by the Crusaders as the city of Acre. It
is also the place where the Baha’i founder Prophet Bab is buried. The city was originally built by the Templers,
a monastic military order that guarded European pilgrims arriving in the Hold
Land to visit the holy places. As Akko
was located on the sea, it was the first place that the pilgrims landed. Today
in the old city of Akko, excavators are unearthing a perfectly preserved
Crusader city which is located directly under the current city. We walked through the tunnel that linked the
fortress to the port. Although the
Templers guarded the pilgrims, it was the Hospitallers, another monastic
military order, that had its headquarters in Akko to treat the sick in the Holy
Land. They also provided food and
shelter to the pilgrims as they made their way to Jerusalem and other holy sites
in Israel. At the end of the tunnel we
came to a large room that served as the dining hall for the fortress. This area was known as the Knights’ Halls.
After touring the ruins, we stopped a jewelry store
where the owner designed metal plates using a nail and hammer to make the
designs. His designs were very unique
and his jewelry was beautiful. Of course
I had to buy a necklace. We then walked
to a restaurant that overlooked the water for lunch. I ordered the kebob, but it was just a roll
of hamburger and not very tasty. I
should have opted for the chicken schnitzel.
We walked through the Arab market place on the way to our bus and
finally we were on our way to the hotel.
It was another very hot and humid day – the kind of day that zapped all
your energy.
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