On Monday (April 28) we left Jerusalem by taxi and in a little over an hour we were in our hotel on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Tel Aviv. We did little more that day than take in our new surroundings which, it soon became obvious, were quite different from those we had left in Jerusalem. Tel Aviv is a much more cosmopolitan city and, although a smaller city than Jerusalem, it has a much bigger metropolitan area and seems much busier. It is the economic, cultural and technology center of the country and in many respects, just like many other cities in the world. It struck us immediately that the obvious ethnicities, clearly identified by dress if nothing else in Jerusalem, were amalgamated here and religious differences were not nearly as clearly delineated. So this city as a destination would not have been a choice we would have made but it does provide a more convenient starting point for several of the historical sites that we wanted to visit over the next couple of days. And a hectic, exciting, educational and moving two days they turned out to be!
Early Tuesday morning we left with the blue Mediterranean on our left side and drove north to our first stop at the ancient city of Caesarea, built by King Herod in honor of Caesar Augustus. It is right on the sea shore and has a good selection of ruins that give an appreciation for its size and amenities. There is a 4000 seat amphitheater, a huge stadium (only recently excavated and with its long terraces of seats intact) and the usual palatial rooms with mosaic floors, etc. There were, however, very few statues as ornamentation, as Jews then (and now) have only geometric shapes to adorn their buildings. Herod was not a Jew by birth (although he did marry a Jewish woman) but he was smart enough to know how to handle not only his Roman leaders but also the people over whom he had virtually supreme power.
From Caesarea we drove to Haifa, the third largest city in Israel and its major port. Here we climbed Mt Carmel. Although Mt Carmel is mentioned in the Bible, most notably in context with Elijah, it is not clear that the place we visited would have been that referenced in the Book of Kings. What is certain, however, is that this mountain range is of significance to Jews, Christians and Muslims and gave its name to the Roman Catholic religious order. But perhaps of most significance – and certainly the most beautiful sight from this vantage point – was the shrine of the Bab where the remains of the founder of the Baha’i Faith are buried, having been brought from his native Persia (Iran). The Baha’i Faith began there the 19th century but was forced out for its teachings, and the founder was imprisoned for the final 24 years of his life. The gardens and the shrine are built on two sets of terraces, each of nine levels (nine is of divine significance in this faith) and the view from this Mt Carmel lookout is magnificent. Built in the early 20th century and beautifully restored and renovated (at a reputed cost of $250 million) in the past decade, it must be one of the most stunning hillside complexes anywhere.
Unfortunately we could marvel at it for only a few minutes before continuing our journey north to the Crusader fortifications at Acre.As we have seen in a number of locations (most recently in Jerusalem but most notably in Malta some years ago), the Crusaders built their temples and forts on a massive scale. This one has the usual extremely high and thick walls but additionally has the Mediterranean as a further barrier to attack. We visited huge underground rooms where the armies drilled (out of sight so as not to give away their methods and size) and we even followed a subterranean water passage which could also have acted as an evacuation route.
For two hundred years the Crusaders from all over Europe attempted (generally successfully) to return this part of the Middle East to Christianity after centuries of Muslim takeover. Muslim leadership was regained partly through wars (with this fortress at Acre being one of the final siege losses) and partly as a result of a lack of unity amongst the various Catholic Church factions that had mounted the Crusades. In any event, by 1400 the Holy Land was under Muslim control and remained so until the formation of the State of Israel in 1948.
Our final stop for the day was at the limestone grottoes of Rosh Hanikra, at the extreme northern edge of Israel. These grottoes, worn by the Mediterranean into a series of white caves with amazingly blue waters, are approached by a short cable car ride that takes the visitor to just above sea level from the cliffs above. From here there is a ¼ mile walkway, with several side passages, that provides views of the grottoes and sounds of the sea and wind, much like their more famous cousins on the Isle of Capri off Italy. On returning to the road via the cable car, we were instructed to turn left and within a few feet (quite literally) we were at the border with Lebanon.
Actually, much like the border between Greek and Turkish Cyprus, this is actually two borders with an intermediate UN controlled buffer zone, so the army controlling this gate was in fact that of Israel. Presumably a similar Lebanese force was located a few hundred yards away but there was no way we were going to be allowed to peer through to find out and photography was strictly forbidden. At this point we were 100Km from Beirut (and over 200Km from Jerusalem!) Although we were obviously close to yet another site of recent conflict we have been reminded several times during this brief visit to Israel that the very convoluted (and often volatile) areas of this small country do have an underpinning of peaceful co-existence. Many Jewish-Palestinian neighborhoods and whole towns have been identified for us as we have driven across the country and certainly we have witnessed no obvious animosity and a general tranquility in this clearly multi-cultural land. For me, this is yet another benefit to traveling to such regions: friendliness and cooperation seems to prevail and it is the times of strife and conflict that are rare – but make the headlines.