The Mediterranean Coast

Israel’s coast runs from the white chalk cliffs of Rosh Hanikra, where the country ends at the Lebanese border, to the Philistine cities of the south. Ashkelon, with one of the oldest arched city gates in the world, and Ashdod, where the Ark of the Covenant toppled Dagon, were two of the five cities of the Philistines; Samson went down to Ashkelon, and David lamented, “publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon.” On the Carmel coast, Tel Dor was a port where the Sea Peoples landed.

At Caesarea, Herod built a deep-water harbor where nature had given none. It became the capital of Roman Judea; here Peter baptized Cornelius, the first Gentile, Paul was held for two years, and a stone in the theater bears the name of Pontius Pilate. Akko, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth, was the last capital of the Crusaders, and in 1799 its walls stopped Napoleon. Between them lie Zikhron Ya’akov, the pioneer town where Rothschild planted Israel’s first modern winery, and the Baron’s gardens above the sea.