Israel various places

Ein Karem is one of Jerusalem’s leading neighborhoods on the culinary scene. Here are some of the top restaurants, pubs and bars

Painting St. John's Church

Walking around the wall of St. John's Church in Ein Kerem. Christian tradition holds that Saint John the Baptist was born in Ein Karem, this leading to the establishment of many churches and monasteries in the area.

About Ein Kerem: As soon as the State of Israel was declared in May of 1948, a harried government began seeking housing for the multitude of immigrants pouring into the country. One December day at the end of that year, two trucks pulled into the deserted village of Ein Kerem on Jerusalem’s southwestern border. Many of the passengers were men, women and children who had only recently moved to the brand-new State of Israel from Morocco and Iraq. The government had decided to settle these new arrivals in Ein Kerem. But when they saw the sewage in the streets, realized that there was no water or electricity in the village, and got a look at the state of Ein Kerem’s rundown houses, the immigrants balked — and with vigor. Loudly protesting the situation, they refused to descend from their vehicles. Veteran settlers relate that the ensuing ruckus reached the ears of Elizabeth, a senior nun at the Russian convent located on a nearby slope. Dashing down to the corner, she is said to have shouted at the newcomers in Russian: “This is paradise, you ungrateful fools, you don’t deserve this wonderful place. Get down! Get down! “ Someone must have understood, because at least one of the trucks emptied its riders into the streets and families began moving into the unoccupied dwellings.

Some of the Abu Ghosh ceramics I enjoy now in my home in Lima

Under the citadel and prison of Acre, archaeological excavations revealed a complex of halls, which was built and used by the Knights Hospitaller

Acre Port is an ancient port in the old city of Acre, Israel. The port has a 2000-year-old history. Recent archaeology suggests that the port was originally in the south of Acre, at the mouth of Na'aman River Today, on any given day of the week the long lines at the Turkish falafel joint on Yehoshafat Street in Acre, are a hopeful metaphor of Arab-Israeli coexistence. As Abed deftly shapes falafel balls with a spoon, dropping them into the deep fryer, customers wait patiently on line. There is the Arab policeman, an Israeli Jewish mother with two teenage girls, a couple of delivery guys — one Arab, one Jewish — and a pack of high school boys.

The citadel of Acre is an Ottoman fortification, built on the foundation of the citadel of the Knights Hospitaller. It was part of the city's defensive formation, reinforcing the northern wall. During the 20th century the citadel was used mainly as Acre Prison and as the site for a gallows. During the British mandate period, activists of Jewish Zionist resistance movements were executed there.

The etymology of the name Acre or Akko, is unknown, but apparently not Semitic. A folk etymology in Hebrew is that, when the ocean was created, it expanded until it reached Acre and then stopped, giving the city its name. (In Hebrew, ad koh means "up to here" and no further.

Caesarea was originally called Straton's Tower after its founder Straton, who is believed to have been a ruler of Sidon in the 4th century BCE. In 96 BCE the city was captured by Alexander Yannai and remained in the Hasmonean kingdom until it became an autonomous city by Pompey. After being for some time in the possession of Cleopatra, ruler of Egypt, it was returned by Augustus to Herod. Once the site of a Phoenician port, over the course of 12 years Herod built Caesarea into the grandest city other than Jerusalem

The aqueduct, originally built by Herod in the first century BCE, was repaired and expanded by the Romans in the second century CE. It conveyed water to the city from springs at the foot of Mt. Carmel over 10 kms. away.

There are archaeological sites in Israel literally everywhere you turn, and it is no wonder when you consider how many rulers the land has been under over the course of thousands of years

The ancient site of Ashkelon is now a national park on the city's southern coast. The walls that encircled the city are still visible, as well as Canaanite earth ramparts. The park contains Byzantine, Crusader and Roman ruins.] The largest dog cemetery in the ancient world was discovered in Ashkelon!!!! The wall was built in the mid-12th century by the Fatimid Caliphate.( Wikipedia)

Caesarea is originally an ancient Herodian port city located on Israel’s Mediterranean Coast about halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa. The site has recently been restored to create one of Israel’s most attractive and fascinating archaeological sites. www.caesarea.com/en/home/tourism-and-leisure/harbor/general-info/history

First founded as a small Phoenician port city, the city was called Stratons Towers, an apparent distortion of the name of the Sidonese god Ashtoreth. In 90 BCE, the town was captured by Alexander Jannaeus and annexed into the Hasmonean kingdom. In 31 BCE, after winning the Battle of Actium, Augustus Caesar gifted the town, along with the entire shoreline of Eretz Israel, to Herod. Herod, for his part, named the town for Augustus. He built the city between 22 - 10 BCE, constructing a major port, numerous recreational facilities, bathhouses and temples. The port was built in Ceasarea because of its location in the center of the country, in close proximity to agricultural lands and convenient access routes. ... and so on ... www.caesarea.com/en/home/tourism-and-leisure/harbor/general-info/history