Mediterranean Coast: Lod, the Old Sity of Jaffa, Caesarea

Overview

Lod – the oldest city, mentioned in the Karnak inscription of the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III (ruled in the XV century BC). The city is also known as Lydda and Georgiopol. Mentioned repeatedly in the New Testament. Tradition retains the memory of the place where Saint was buried. incl. George the Victorious.

Jaffa is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Pilgrims from all corners came here to visit the Holy Land. At present the city is united with Tel Aviv into a single municipal unit. Hence, according to the legend, the Biblical prophet Jonah went on his way, here according to the legend Perse liberated Andromeda, according to the text of the New Testament, there was a vision for the apostle Peter, who here resurrected a girl named Tavifa from the dead. The ancient historical part of Jaffa is an interlacing of narrow, bright and picturesque streets, in which many restaurants, art galleries, artists’ studios, salons and museums with archeological excavations are located. Also here are temples and monasteries of various faiths.

Caesarea is a unique archaeological park in place of an ancient city founded by Herod the Great in memory of the Roman Emperor Octavian Augustus. Currently, there are active archaeological excavations including underwater. Among the surviving ruins, the most famous are: (“Palace on the Reef”), the Hippodrome (stadium) of King Herod, reconstructed into an amphitheater, sections of city streets of Roman and Byzantine periods, a complex of Byzantine baths with magnificent finishes, a large artificial port of the Second Jewish Temple and fortified city -port of the Arab period, the ruins of the temple complex, in which the buildings of the Roman, Byzantine, Arabic periods and the Crusader era, fragments of the city wall were mixed up. Also interesting are the “Street of Statues” of the Byzantine period, decorated with Roman statues, the ruins of the Byzantine synagogue, the remnants of the Roman fortress wall, the hippodrome (2nd century AD), and fragments of aqueducts. Among the archaeological finds is a plate with the inscription Pilate to the emperor Tiberius (the original is kept in the Museum of Israel).

The excursion begins at the place of accommodation of the tourists in Jerusalem (the address and time of the excursion beginning is indicated in advance by the guide). On the tour you need to have comfortable shoes, drinking water and a hat from the sun. Clothes should be like when visiting temples (men should not visit Churches in shorts, women should have clothes with closed shoulders, do not have a neckline, short skirts and shorts, you can wear trousers). At the request of tourists to the tour, you can add a visit to the city of Bethlehem. To cross the border post between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, tourists need to have a passport with them.