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Looking directly north from Herod the Great's palace (roughly 1/4 mile), you would see a narrow strip of land jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea. The building you see is what remains of a Crusader citadel (fortress), some modern-day shops, and a restaurant.
The fortress was a square measuring 62×62 feet. It was defended by four towers and a wide moat (62 feet across) that separated the citadel from the Crusader-era city to the east.
In the first century AD you would not have seen the citadel, but the southern breakwater of Caesarea’s artificial harbor constructed under the direction of Herod the Great. The jut of land visible today formed only a portion (about half) of that breakwater, essentially only the inner portion of the great harbor. The harbor area was located on the far side of the citadel/restaurant in the photograph above.
In its day, the harbor could have docked as many as 400 ships. Some estimate that it would have cost about $2B to build (billion in today's dollars). I read several accounts that he recouped his money in less than 4 years!
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