Caesarea Philippi

This is the place where Peter made his confession

"You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,"

and where Jesus predicted His death.

This artist's rendering of Caesarea Philippi helps today's visitors understand what they are seeing. I think both structures are temples to different Roman gods, but I can't remember for certain. My study manual says that in 20 BCE Herod the Great built a temple to Pan here. The city was rebuilt by Herod's son Philip the Tetrarch and named in honor of Augustus and Philip. The site was called Neronica by Agrippa II. The city was destroyed in 1157 CE by Syrian Muslim forces battling against the Crusaders.

Notice the large cave behind the structure on the left and the carved niches between the two buildings...This is that cave...This is the area just to the right of the large cave in the artist's rendering...The following pictures show the area to the far right in the artist's rendering... The niches held their idols of worship.

This next picture is looking down from the site onto the valley below, the Banias. It is fed underground by the lake at Birket Ram. About five and a half miles long, it springs forth at the base of the large, red limestone cliff at Caesarea Philippi. It was farely dry when we were there, but it is at times completely flooded. The melting snow and ice which cover Mt. Hermon flow down to form underground springs which then flow out in various places in the foothills of the mountain. The Banias is one of the four main sources of the Jordan.