Directory listings Archive | Page 130 of 259

Bruce Avishai

Bruce lived in the Boston, Massachusetts area and later graduated from Rutgers College with a degree in Political Science. He immigrated to Israel in 1972, where he has lived on a Kibbutz, worked as a guide in the Sinai desert, maintained a private farm for 10 years, and finally became a professional guide in 1991. Bruce’s first impression of Israel was that it is a most unique and sometimes indescribable place to be. Bruce’s personal journey and growth as a professional guide have only reinforced those feelings. He always desires to try to show people Israel’s “uniqueness”, in order for them to have true and lasting impressions of Israel. Bruce resides in Rehovot, just south of Tel Aviv, is a father of 3, and grandfather of 5.

Caesarea Maritima is an ancient city that was built by Herod the Great in 25–13 BC. It is located along the coast of Israel between Tel Aviv and Haifa, in a place formerly called Pyrgos Stratonos. This is also where Herod built his palace on a cliff overlooking the sea. Civil life of the new city began in 13 BC, when Cesarea was turned into the capital of Judea, and the official residence of the Roman procurators and governors. The remains of all major buildings erected by Herod lasted until the late nineteenth century. The remains of the medieval town can also be seen, which are the walls, the palace and the site of the cathedral crusade.

Modern Caesarea Maritima has a population of 4,500 inhabitants and it’s the only Israeli locality managed by a private organization, the Caesarea Development Corporation. It’s organized as a communal settlement, though not as a kibbutz or moshav. It is a city built in honor of the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus. Today it’s a small archaeological enclave declared a National Park with preserved Roman, Byzantine and Crusader ruins; also it has a Roman aqueduct and amphitheater.

Caesarea, Wine Country, and Kibbutz Experience Tour

Our Caesarea, Wine Country, and Kibbutz Experience Tour gives you an off-the-beaten-track experience in some of Israel’s northern highlights. This guided tour is all about seeing Israel from another angle, learning the local history from everyday people, and enjoying Israel’s natural beauty. With stops at a kibbutz, a unique kind of collective community settlement found only in Israel, as well as the Roman ruins of Caesarea and wineries of Binyamina, you’ll get a well-rounded trip with three varied experiences that are utterly unique to Israel. This private tour departs from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Herzeliya, or Netanya, six days a week except for Saturdays.

The tour kicks off with a tour of Kibbutz facilities, where you will learn about the history of the Kibbutz movement and its unique way of life from a local resident. Then you’ll continue to Caesarea to visit its Roman remnants including King Herod’s Roman Port, the Hippodrome, the amphitheater, and more. You will learn more about the history of the area via a special audio-visual experience and your guide. The tour rounds out with a visit to picturesque Binyamina in the heart of Israel’s beautiful wine country. You’ll get a tour of one of Israel’s premier wineries and learn about the wine-making process and Israel’s burgeoning wine industry. Finally, you’ll have an exclusive wine-tasting of some of its fine vintages.

Caesarea, Haifa and Akko Tour

Caesarea, Haifa and Akko Tour explores the diversity and beauty of Israel’s northern coastline and four of the most impressive sites in just one day. Take in the wonder of King Herod’s ancient seaside city of Caesarea, explore the bustling markets in Akko, a UNESCO World Heritage site, tour Haifa, Israel’s third city set on the slopes of Mount Carmel, home to the ‘hanging’ Bahai Gardens with its beautiful German Colony. This full-day tour, led by our handpicked Israeli tour guides, departs from Tel Aviv or Jerusalem four times a week and is the best way to conveniently explore the north of Israel in just one day.

Caesarea, Haifa and Akko Tour shows you the highlights of the North and ends with return transfer to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. You will return to your starting point with wonderful memories and lasting impressions. The tour is available four times a week with guaranteed departures.

SEGS on the Beach

A fascinating new tour starting from the Caesarea Golf Club and includes the Roman Villa and the amazing aqueduct. Helmets will be provided and are mandatory. Riding a Segway is allowed from age 16 and up (according to the Ministry of Transportation) and is not recommended for pregnant women.

Ralli Museum

The Ralli Museums in Caesarea are part of five Ralli Museums in the world, an institution founded by Harry Recanati. The main aim of the museums is to disseminate contemporary Latin American art. When appreciating Latin American surrealism, the folkloric motifs and the figurative emphasis, one can grasp the importance of these great works of contemporary art. The museums were dedicated to the memory of the Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal during the Inquisition and of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki, which was almost completely exterminated in the Holocaust.

Ralli 1
The first Ralli Museum in Caesarea was built in a Spanish colonial style that perfectly fits the pastoral landscape of Caesarea. The size of the museum is about 9000 square meters, and the building is located in the center of a 40-hectare sculpture garden with palm trees, carob trees, citrus and olive trees. The museum has five exhibit halls as well as several octagonal patios with a central fountain. The floor is made of red terracotta tiles and frames consisting of strips of wood and white tiles with a motif of blue clover leaves. These beautiful tiles were especially designed in Uruguay for the Ralli Museums.

The museum was conceived taking into account the light and weather conditions of the country. Natural light comes from large windows opening onto the courtyards. The upper level has one large sculpture square overlooking the sea, and through the arches one can appreciate the arches of the Roman aqueduct on the horizon. The square features sculptures in bronze, marble and acrylic by famous European artists such as Dali and Rodin, as well as Latin-American sculptors.

Ralli 2
The second museum commemorates the great golden age of Spanish Jewry. The architectural style is Spanish (Moorish) and in the center of the large central courtyard stands a fountain with 12 lions, as in the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. According to historians, this motif originated in the palace of King David in Jerusalem. The fountain is surrounded by marble statues of Maimonides, Ibn Gabirol, Yehuda Halevi and Spinoza. The building has four stories, and the exhibits consist of paintings with Biblical themes created by European artists in the 16th to 18th centuries.

Both museums effectively integrate the visual arts: architecture, sculpture and painting.

Caesarea Maritima Museum

Caesarea Maritima Museum houses the largest collection of archeological artifacts related to Herod’s city, ancient Caesarea. Some were uncovered accidently while tilling the fields while many others were discovered in archeological excavations. The various finds include marble statues, sarcophagi, inscriptions, coins, oil lamps, pottery, jewelry, metal utensils, amphorae, etc. from the Roman/ Herodian, Byzantine, Muslin and Crusader periods. Also on exhibit are artifacts from Caesarea Synagogue, mosaics and remnants of Jewish headstones.

Caesarea Underwater Archaelological Park

Caesarea Underwater Archaelological Park is the first Underwater Archaeological Park in Israel and around the world! The park was built by researchers from the University of Haifa together with the Caesarea Development Company and was opened the park in 2006. The underwater park reveals to its divers Herod’s ancient building techniques of his renowned port the rehabilitation efforts made after it sunk and the various shipwrecks which are found around this area. This stunning underwater archaeological park teaches both amateurs and professionals alike about the techniques Herod used to construct the ancient ports and about later attempts to restore the port after it began to sink. The park is designed for both snorkelers and more advanced scuba divers so that all can marvel at the ingenuity of the ancient engineers.

The entire area of the the sunken port’s remains is approx. 50 acres (200,000 sq. m), including docks, warehouses, boardwalks, beacons, pools, wave breakers, loading grounds, storage places, the old ports promenade and even its lighthouse. At the bottom of the port all the shipwrecks are found and even one of the “maapilim” shipwrecks is buried at the bottom of the sea here. The dive at the park is conducted by professional instructors who make this a unique and unforgettable diving adventure.

Description by Israel and You

The Chagall Windows

The twelve stained glass windows, which Marc Chagall created for the synagogue and donated to Hadassah in 1962 represent the unique characteristics, attributes, professions and strengths of the twelve sons of the biblical patriarch Jacob. Marc Chagall’s main inspiration is derived from the Bible, particularly Jacob’s blessings to his twelve sons and Moses’ words to the twelve tribes.

The colorful light that emanates from the twelve stained glass windows bathes the Abbell Synagogue at the Hadassah University Medical Center in a special glow. The sun filters through the brilliant hues of the stained glass capturing their radiance. Even in the misty haze of a cloudy day, Chagall’s genius transforms time and space.

The tour of the Hadassah Heritage Center and the Chagall Windows is the best way to discover one of the most famous and splendid works of Marc Chagall and the incredible humane work of the Hadassah organization throughout the past 100 years.

Church of Saint John the Baptist

The Church of Saint John the Baptist is a Catholic church in Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, that belongs to the Franciscan order. It was built at the site where Saint John the Baptist was believed to have been born.

In 1941–42 the Franciscans excavated the area west of the church and monastery. Here they discovered graves, rock-cut chambers, wine presses and small chapels with mosaic tiling. The southern rock-cut chamber contained ceramic, datable to a period stretching from approximately the first century BC till 70 AD, an interval that includes the presumed lifetime of Zechariah, Elizabeth and John. The community living here has been dated by the archaeological findings back to the Roman, Byzantine and Early Muslim periods.

Most of the current church structure dates back to around the 11th century, with the lower courses possibly dating to the Byzantine period (4th-7th century).

Church of the Visitation

The Church of the Visitation is a Catholic church in Ein Karem, Jerusalem, and honors the visit paid by the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. This is the site where tradition tells us that Mary recited her song of praise, the Magnificat, one of the most ancient Marian hymns.

The Bible doesn’t mention the birth place of John, it only states that Mary went to “a town in the hill country of Judea”. One tradition attributes the construction of the first church of Ein Karem to Empress Helena of Constantinople, Constantine I’s mother, who identified the site as the home of John’s father, Zachary.

The courtyard contains a statue of Mary and Elizabeth, and on the wall opposite the entrance to the lower church are forty-two ceramic tablets bearing the verses of the Magnificat in as many different languages. On the facade of the upper church is a striking mosaic commemorating the Visitation. Next to the church proper, a Crusader hall of the 12th century survived in good condition.

The lower church contains a narrow medieval barrel-vaulted crypt ending with a well-head from which, according to tradition, Elizabeth and her infant drank. The well is connected to a Roman or Byzantine overflow pipe running under the medieval floor. Also preserved are remains of the ancient church and beautiful mosaic floors.

The rock with a cleft next to the entrance of the medieval crypt is said to mark the site where the mountain opened up to hide Elizabeth and the infant John from Herod’s soldiers – this is the “Rock of Concealment”. This tradition is based on the 2nd-century apocryphal Protoevangelium of James 22:3. The interior of the lower church holds Italianate frescoes depicting Zachary at the altar of the Lord, the Visitation, and Elizabeth hiding her son during the Massacre of the Innocents.

The walls of the upper church are decorated with frescoes. Those on the southern wall are depicting five episodes, from left (east) to right (west):
The Council of Ephesus (431), which defined Mary as Theotokos or the Mother of God;
Mary protecting Christians with her mantle, according to the oldest extant hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary as Theotokos, the Sub tuum praesidium;
the Wedding at Cana;
The Battle of Lepanto (1571), in which a united Catholic fleet defeated an Ottoman fleet, a victory ascribed to the help of the Virgin Mary under the title Mary Help of Christians and celebrated by the Catholic Church with the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary;
Duns Scotus, supported by the Franciscans, defending his thesis on the Immaculate Conception at the Sorbonne in Paris against the dissenting Dominicans.
Behind the altar, a fresco is showing Mary approaching through Judaea, with the Franciscan custos presenting her the model of the church and the Catholic patriarch of Jerusalem of the time in attendance.

Verses from the Magnificat are painted on the columns of the church. In the corners are the four cardinal virtues, and around the windows on the left side of the church are Christian writers (Fathers and Doctors of the Church) who have written about the Virgin Mary. The ceiling is painted in the Tuscan style of the 14th century.

Archives: Directory listings