This 2000 year old harbour city, built by King Herod for Roman Emperor Augustus Ceaser, has witnessed some of the significant events in New Testament period. It is the place where Pontius Pilate governed during the time of Jesus; where St. Peter converted Cornelius (the first non-Jew to believe in Jesus); where St. Paul was imprisoned for two years before taken to Rome. In 4th cent, Caesarea became a major christian learning center (which included a library of 30,000 manuscripts) and the field of study for eminent scholars like Eusebius (the first church historian), Origen, Jerome and many more.
After Mameluks destroyed Caesarea in 1265, the city remained obscure and got erased from human memory, until it was miraculously unearthed almost 700 years later, beneath the thick layers of sand. Today, Caesarea is an archaeological paradise. You can see remains of the forty-acre ancient harbour that accommodated 300 ships, a 2000 year old theatre with a seating capacity of 3500, an aqueduct that collected water as far as from 9 km away, and much more..
Reaching Caesarea via public transport is not always an easy task. For spending 3 hrs in Caesarea, I took almost 12 hrs for traveling and waiting for the buses. The only public transport available to Ceasarea is from Hadera and it is run by a company called Nateev. With my poor Hebrew, I struggled with Nateev's online site to find the bus schedule (http://www.nateevexpress.com/NATEEV-EXPRESS/asp/info/BusLines/BusTimeTable.asp?cat=1&txt1_4=).
Here are the schedules, for all those who plan to visit Caesarea via public transport.
Bus 76 from Hadera to Casarea
06.00 06.40 08.20 11.25 13.10 14.50 17.50 19.35 (Sun-Thu)
0600 0640 0905 1105 1240 1505 (Fri)
Bus 77 from Caesarea to Hadera
09.10 12.25 14.00 15.30 18.40 20.20 (Sun-Thu)
10.00 12.00 13.40 16.00 (Fri)
The itinerary in brief...
Arrival
7.15 am-Sede Boker-Metropolin 6o
8.20 am-Beer Sheva- Metropolin 370
10.25 am-Tel Aviv-Egged 852 (reached Hadera at 11.30 am)
1.10 pm- Hadera-Nateev Express 76
2.00 pm-Casarea
Return
7.00 pm-Casarea-Nateev Express 77
7.25 pm-Hadera-Egged 921
9.00 pm-Tel Aviv-Metropolin 370
11.00 pm-Beer Sheva-Metropolin 60
11.45 pm-Sede Boker
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