Apollonia ancient city (Arsuf) & national park

Apollonia is located in Herzliya city, on a cliff overlooking a lovely Mediterranean sea shore.

During the summer, on Friday evenings, music ensembles are being held in the crusader fortress. This fortress was built in 1241 but was partly destroyed a couple of decades later.

The site has two trails, the main first, leads to the fortress and is a one level trail (no steps to climb), good for almost anyone. It’s about 250 meters to get there. The other trail is the Sea trail and is the same length but has many levels and quite a few steps. It takes about an hour to cover the site, but if you got there, you might as well stay a bit more and enjoy the nice Mediterranean breeze.

History:

This area was settled some 2500 years ago by the Phoenicians and they have named the village Arshuf after Reshef, god of war and storm. It was later (1-4 centuries BCE) renamed to Apollonia after the god Apollo. In the Roman era the place had developed into a city with a Samaritan and maybe Jewish community too.

In the Byzantine era (5-6 centuries CE) the city had thrived . It was about 70 acres big , had wine & olive presses, a developed glass industry and an advanced watering system based on reservoir structures.

The Muslim conquered the city during the 7-11 CE and the city was named Arsuf . It was then fortified with a wall to protect it from the Byzantine attacks from the sea.

The city was conquered by the crusaders in the year 1101 after a few failed attempts. The crusaders strengthened the walls and built a few moats .The Muslims occupied the city again in 1187 CE for 4 years. The Crusaders victory in 1191 established their hold on the place for the next century, until it was conquered again by the Sultan Baibars and the Mamluks ( a Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who had converted to Islam). The Mamluks ruled the city for a few years and then deserted it. It was never resettled again.

Information:

see on Google maps (labeled “B”)
Tel.: +972-9-9550929
20 nis entrance fee per person, including parking
for Friday evening music ensembles – about 70 nis per person, including parking and entrance to the site
suitable for families and any walker
the trail to the fortress is suitable for a handicap
there are picnic tables, shades and water