Independent trip to Arsuf (archaeological park of Apollonia)
I would like to talk about my trip to Apollonia archaeological park, where the ruins of the Crusader fortress Arsuf are located. This is a little known attraction. Arsuf (Apollonia) is not particularly advertised in guidebooks and is not visited by tourists as part of standard tours.
And this makes me very sad - after all, it is here, on the high coast of the Mediterranean Sea, that the remains of the city have been preserved crusaders with a citadel. It was here that a fairly large port was built. From Apollonia there was a stunning view of the other two ports: on the one hand - Jaffa, on the other - Caesarea.
The century was replaced by a century. The conquerors also changed - the Phoenicians who built Arsuf were replaced by the Greeks and called the city Apollonia. The Greeks were replaced by the Romans, the Romans by the Byzantines. . . In the 7th century, the Christian rulers of Apollonia were replaced by Muslims, and the city was again called Arsuf. They strengthened its walls and the city turned into an impregnable fortress. Only a few centuries later, in 1101, King Baldwin the First managed to conquer Arsuf. By his order, a deep ditch was dug and a castle (citadel) was built. The presence of the crusaders was short-lived - in 1265, Sultan Baibars besieged the fortress city, and after 40 days of siege, Arsuf fell. The cruel sultan destroyed the city to the ground. . .
Nobody remembered about Arsuf for about 800 years! And only in our time, Israeli archaeologists have begun excavations.
Visitors to the Apollonia Archaeological Park (that's what the site is now called) can see what has been hidden for centuries. It is not difficult to do this at all - the ruins of the Arsuf fortress are located in the vicinity of Tel Aviv, north of Herzliya Pituah (between the cities of Tel Aviv and Netanya). Entrance to the territory of the archaeological park is paid
It took me about 2 hours to visit this attraction.
You can get to Arsuf both by bus (+ on foot) and by car (you don’t have to pay extra for parking), because in tours to Israel this tour is not included. . .
