OLD CAESAREA DIVING CENTER
caesarea diving
מועדון קיסריה העתיקהold caesarea diving

P: 04-6265898rusianדף הביתצרו קשרהצטרפו לפייסבוק שלנו

  • About
    • About the club
    • Team
    • Opening hours
  • Discover diving
    • Introductory Dive
    • Guided Snorkeling
    • Independent snorkeling
    • Become a diver
    • Group Activities
  • Certified divers
    • Dive schedule
    • Guided Dives
    • Refresh Dive
    • Combine Dive
    • Gear Rentals
    • Night Dive
    • Gear Maintenance
    • Diving Insurance
  • Diving courses
  • Diving sites
  • Info
  • Store
  • contact
  • Golds and treasures in Caesarea
  • Underwater Archeological Park
  • View Sea Conditions
  • Discover diving
  • Certified divers
  • Diving courses
  • Diving sites
  • Info
  • About
  • home page
caesarea diving
הצטרפו לפייסבוק צרן קשר התקשרו
  • About
    • About the club
    • Team
    • Opening hours
  • Discover diving
    • Introductory Dive
    • Guided Snorkeling
    • Independent snorkeling
    • Become a diver
    • Group Activities
  • Certified divers
    • Dive schedule
    • Guided Dives
    • Refresh Dive
    • Combine Dive
    • Gear Rentals
    • Night Dive
    • Gear Maintenance
    • Diving Insurance
  • Diving courses
  • Diving sites
  • Info
  • Store
  • contact
  • Golds and treasures in Caesarea
  • Underwater Archeological Park
  • View Sea Conditions
  • Discover diving
  • Certified divers
  • Diving courses
  • Diving sites
  • Info
  • About
  • home page
home » Archaeological

The port and its components

The enclosed anchorage area was about 20 hectars.  It consisted of three basins. The inner one was dug inland and today is completely silted up.  This basin is marked in the water by a round tower, which may have been a part of the Hellenistic fortifications of Straton’s Tower, the town preceding Caesarea.  It is built of ashlar stones arranged in a circle, 13m in diameter, with their narrow side facing out (“headers”).  On the tower’s eastern side there is a trimmed block, designed to incorporate a lead water pipe, which brought water in from the shore.  The tower is located at the northern entrance to the inner harbour, now land-locked.  The eastern quay of this basin may be observed in the small pool below the temple podium, where a bollard and an abrasive line mark the ancient water level.   It turns out that this inner basin started silting up right after construction, with many attempts to dredge and keep it functioning.  Moreover, permanent building on this site was impossible because of recurrent inundations by the sea.  Only in the early Moslem period (8th century AD) a well planned urban quarter was built in this area.  It is now mostly covered by grass.

The middle basin was in a natural bay and corresponds to the modern anchorage. A portion of the Herodian pavement of the main breakwater is preserved in situ, just under the modern concrete quay, west of the diving center (6).  Ashlar built piers jutted into the port’s basins, increasing the dock area.  The external basin, the biggest of the three, was created by the construction of two huge breakwaters, which were the first of their kind in history. The length of the main breakwater and mole, stretching in a large arc from S/E to N/W, was about 500m, and its width at the base was c.60-70m.  On the outer edge of the mole was a sea wall with towers at regular intervals, while on the inside there was a quay for loading and unloading, warehouses and a promenade along its entire length.  At the southern end of the mole(on the site of todays’s citadel) stood the largest tower – the Drusion – which may also have served also as a lighthouse.  Estimates of the original width of the entrance channel range from 30 to 80m.  Outside the entrance stood twin towers, marking the way in.  The towers were connected at the top by a platform designed to carry magnificent sculpture (that did not survive).

The harbour area was enclosed on the north by a straight, shorter mole, on the end of which the port authority building might have stood. Some of the stone blocks found here were especially fashioned, perhaps to serve as sockets for capstans, which rolled the iron chain closing the harbour entrance in times of need.

Written by Sarah Arenson

Photo: Itamar Grinberg
Posted in: Archaeological
« Previous
Next »
  • 1+2 star diving course begins Friday 15.11.2024. Register now!
  • Second star diving course begins Friday 8.11.2024. Register now!

View Sea Conditions


Underwater Archeological Park


Golds and treasures in Caesareaarrow-e

צוללן מוצא מטבע זהב
מטבעות זהב
מטבע זהב

Second star diving course begins Friday 8.11.2024. Register now!

Diving Insurance

עברית rusian צרו קשר הצטרפו לפייסבוק שלנו התקשר

עבריתrusianhomecontactjoin facebook

Fill in your details and a representative of the Caesarea Club will return to you:

  • contact
  • About
  • home page

padi



logo1

luch web design
Scroll to top
צרו קשר

צרו עימנו קשר:

Skip to content
Open toolbar

accessibility

  • enlarge font
  • minimize font
  • grey
  • contrast
  • opposite
  • light
  • underline links
  • readable font
  • Reset
  • about
  • contact us