Apollonia National Park, which was excavated beginning in the 1950s (continuing to the present) and opened to the public in 2002, preserves the remains of multiple layers of human habitation from antiquity until the high Middle Ages, including Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Samaritan, Byzantine, Arab Muslim, and Crusader buildings, on a stunningly beautiful site perched above the Mediterranean Sea.
| Region | Address | Time Needed | Accessibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central (Herzliya area) | 📍”Apollonia National Park” in Waze or Google Maps (Hwy 2 near Kfar Shemaryahu junction) | 1 1/2 to 2 hours | Easy, paved trail that is mostly wheelchair- and stroller-accessible |
Practical Information
National park site with updated opening hours and reservations:
Apollonia National Park [English] | גן לאומי אפולוניה – תל ארשף
You can reserve an entrance date for free on the park website, which is different from entry tickets. You can buy tickets ahead of time on the site or pay at the entrance gate. The last entry is one hour before closing.
There is a sizable parking lot after the entrance gate. There is an information booth, a popsicle stand, and bathrooms near the pathway into the park. We went at Sukkot and there was a public sukkah in one of the picnic areas.
The site is in the open sun, making summer visits potentially hot and uncomfortable; the best seasons are the milder months of fall and spring.
Table of Contents
Site History
Apollonia/Arsuf has a long history. In antiquity it was held by Achaemenid Persians (probably), Hellenized Seleucid Greeks, Jewish Hasmonean kings (also Hellenized), and Byzantines. In the early Middle Ages, with the advent of Islam, it was conquered by Arab Muslims. In the years following the First Crusade (turn of the twelfth century) Apollonia/Arsuf passed into the hands of European Crusaders who ruled it from the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem—except for several years when it was taken back by Salah al-Din (Saladin). It was subsequently destroyed by Muslim Mamluks in the thirteenth century, after which it was no longer inhabited.
Apollonia in Antiquity
The site preserved at Apollonia National Park was inhabited continuously from the Achaemenid Persian period in the sixth century BCE, until its destruction by Mamluks in 1265.1 There is some scholarly disagreement about its proposed first inhabitants, Phoenicians, with some researchers suggesting that the identification of the city with ancient Rishpon, named for the Canaanite diety Reshef, has not been adequately established. It has also been suggested that the Seleucid emperor Seleucus IV Philopater founded the city.2
However, it does seem clear that the Canaanite god Reshef was identified by its rulers in the Hellenistic period with the god Apollo, resulting in the renaming of the site at present-day Tel Arshaf to Apollonia; and you will nevertheless see the Phoenician Rishpon-to-Roman-Apollonia hypothesis presented on the park signage.
Josephus describes Apollonia as one of the cities held by he Hashmonean king Alexander Yannai (Jannaeus), c. 126–76 BCE:
After he [Alexander Yannai] had spent three years in this war, he returned to his own country, when the Jews joyfully received him upon this his good success. Now at this time the Jews were in possession of the following cities that had belonged to the Syrians, and Idumeans, and Phoenicians: At the sea-side, Strato’s Tower, Apollonia, Joppa, Jamhis, Ashdod, Gaza, Anthedon, Raphia, and Rhinocolura…
Antiquities of the Jews, Book 13, Chapter 15, pars. 3-4
It was, however, probably conquered earlier, and changed hands between various Hasmonean kings and then Roman officials. The city is also mentioned by Pliny in Natural History V, 14 and by other Roman historians.
A striking remnant of its Roman period, when the city was known as Apollonia, is found near the park’s entrance, visible from the first sea overlook. The elaborate Roman villa has a prime seaside location.
Apollo, the god who gave his name to Apollonia, was also known as soter, “savior.” In the Byzantine period, the city was renamed once again in consonance with the new rulers’ culture, to Sozusa/Sazousa, “Savior,” a reference to Jesus. During this period, as with other parts of the Land of Israel, Apollonia changed hands between the Sasanian Persians and the Byzantines a number of times. A glassmaking furnace, wine press, and oil press have been recovered dating from the Byzantine period.3
There is also a Samaritan synagogue dating from the Byzantine period, its floor mosaics still visible, in Apollonia. The mosaic includes a bilingual Greek-Samaritan inscription.4 A Byzantine-era church is not preserved on the site.
The Muslim Period
With the ebb of the Byzantine empire and the Sasanian Persian empire in the Land of Israel, Apollonia fell to Muslim rule in the seventh century, when it was known as Arsuf in Arabic. The new Islamic rulers destroyed the Samaritan community which flourished then in the city. They built the city’s first defensive wall to guard against attacks by sea, which were not infrequent. The remains of the walls from the Umayyad period were later fortified by Crusaders.
Medieval Crusader History
In 1101, King Baldwin I, a French Crusader who ruled the kingdom of Jerusalem for eight years, from 1100 to 1118, conquered Apollonia with the help of his Genoan fleet. (Baldwin I, not to be confused with the later Baldwin IV “the Leper-King” of Jerusalem, was the younger brother of the famed Crusader King Godfrey of Bouillon, the first ruler of Jerusalem after its capture in 1099 until 1101, when Baldwin I took over.) Under Crusader rule, Apollonia/Sozusa became known as Arsur or Arsour, a corruption of Arsuf. It soon became a commercial center, hosting many Genoese merchants, Genoa (in Italy) also being a coastal city renowned for its commerce and maritime prowess. In the mid-twelfth century, Arsour became the center of a seigniory (feudal state), its governance turned over to a local noble family.5
In 1187, Arsour was taken again by the Muslims, during the campaigns of reconquest by the Salah al-Din (Saladin), the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty.
Only four years later, however, in 1191 during the Third Crusade (the “Kings’ Crusade,” a joint venture of the kings of England, France, and Germany designed to retake lost regions of the Holy Land), it was reconquered by Crusaders under Richard I “the Lion-Hearted” of England. The Muslim geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi (1179–1229) records it as held by the Franks. The Crusader city flourished in the first half of the thirteenth century.
A castle fortress was built on an outcropping in the northern side of the city in 1241, under the leadership of Jean d’lbelin d’Arsour.6 It had three layers of defenses: an outer fortification system consisting of a gated wall with guard towers; a tall inner fortification wall that also served as the outer walls of the castle’s rooms which opened to the castle courtyard; and tall guard tower or keep from which the area could be surveyed. A port was also constructed at sea level beneath the fortress.7
The city was fortified defensively, with a substantial dry moat being built around the three sides of the city facing land; the coastal approach to the city was naturally protected by the cliffs on which the city was perched. The remains of the dry moat are visible today on your right as you walk into the park from the south.
Jean d’lbelin d’Arsour‘s successor, after his death in 1258, was his son Belian I. The thirteenth century, however, saw the arrival of a powerful new force in the region: the Mamluks, a class of Turkic manumitted slaves that rose to rule wide swaths of the Middle East, most notably Egypt. With Arsour threatened by Mamluks, in 1261 Belian I abdicated his small regional kingdom, which included Arsour, and turned it over to the administration of the Knights Hospitaller (Order of St. John), which had been founded after the First Crusade in Jerusalem.
Knighthood in medieval Europe was fundamentally a social class, and an important one that presented, like the mercantile class, an intermediary (“middle”) class between the landed nobility and the peasantry that served as tenant laborers (serfs). Knights provided security services to a lord to whom they had a formalized relationship and therefore a duty to protect. The Knights Hospitaller were notable in that they were not only a military order but also undertook charitable projects, including their flagship, a hospital for sick and needy pilgrims in Jerusalem.
When the Knights Hospitaller took over Arsour from Belian I, they took up residence in the castle fortress, the remains of which are prominently visible today to visitors of Apollonia National Park. They also enhanced the castle’s protections.8 The castle also had a chapel during this period.9
However, just a few years later in 1265, the Egyptian Mamluk sultan, Baybars I, heading a large army, attacked Arsour. After a siege of over a month, the city fell to Baybars when the Crusaders surrendered. The condition of surrender had been that the Crusaders be allowed to leave, but Baybars instead instructed them to sack the city and burn the fortress, marks of which remain on the castle walls. He then took the Crusaders prisoner.
Various defensive weapons, including canonballs, have been found from the Crusader period, some of which are visible to visitors at the park.
Mujir al-Din, a Muslim historiographer, records in his work al-Uns al-jalil bi-tarikh al-Quds wa-’l-khalil (The Glorious History of Jerusalem and Hebron), written in 1496 in Jerusalem, that the Sayyidna Ali mosque, named for a local holy man buried nearby, was dedicated it by Baybars in gratitude for the victory conferred upon him at Arsuf.10
The tomb of our master Ali b. Alil is located on the shore of the salty Sea, near the beach of Arsuf. On it is a vast and famous mashhad [mosque], with a high minaret. The residents of the entire area are sheltered by it and by its wonders. Among the miracles (for which he is known) is that the Franks believe in him and recognise him as a saint. I have heard that when the Franks pass by his tomb when they are at sea, they uncover their heads and bow toward him, may God’s will rest upon him…
When al-Malik al-Zahir Baybars camped there on the day he conquered Jaffa and Arsuf, he visited, made vows, dedicated awqaf (donated monies) and prayed beside the tomb. Then Allah made it easier for him to conquer the land.
Mujir al-Din, al-Uns al-jalil bi-tarikh al-Quds wa-’l-khalil, translated by Hana Taragan11
Apollonia/Sozusa/Arsuf/Arsour was essentially not to be inhabited again,12, although Ottoman documents show a handful of inhabitants in later periods.
A Guide through Apollonia National Park
The touring path through Apollonia National Park goes from south to north through the site, and then loops back. It’s a short walk, but you’ll be stopping to check out various historical remains along the way. It took us about an hour and a half, and two hours would have been even better. The main path is paved and accessible, with several overlooks over the sea. There are some areas to explore off the path and an alternate dirt path that takes you further down the cliffs to the castle, if you prefer.
The first thing you’ll encounter, as mentioned above, is the dry moat. Follow its wall up towards the sea. At the top of the hill, the Samaritan synagogue will be on your right and the overlook for the Roman villa on your left. Further down the path are knights’ quarters, a lime kiln, a cistern, and other buildings, plus sights of the castle atop the northern cliff.
You can then walk up to the castle and explore inside. You first walk through the area of the castle gate, which would have been two stories tall and flanked by guard towers. Excavations have shown that the gate included at iron portcuills, behind which were wooden doors—similar to the depiction on the seal of Belian I. You then enter the castle courtyard, to which various rooms opened out. The north tower, dining hall, and large circular storage niche will be to your right. On the left are living and storage rooms, including the burnt room, and straight ahead is the massive keep tower that watched over the castle and the city.
A little ways north of the castle area there is a display of reconstructed cross-bows and catapults. You can either walk back to the park entrance along a quick upper path or back the way you came.
You can see pictures of the excavation in one of Hauke Kenzler and Annette Zeischka-Kenzler, “German-Israeli Research on the Crusader Town of Arsur and Its Former Lordship,” cited in full below in the notes and available on Academia.edu.
- Annette Zeischka-Kenzler et al., “Apollonia: Preliminary Report,” Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel 130 (2018).
- Michael Avi-Yonah and Shaked Gilboa, Encyclopedia Judaica s.v. “Apollonia,” 2nd ed. (2007).
- Annette Zeischka-Kenzler et al., “Apollonia: Preliminary Report,” Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel 130 (2018).
- Oren Tal, “A Samaritan Synagogue of the Byzantine Period at Apollonia-Arsuf/Sozousa?,” Religions 11, no. 3 (2020): 127.
- Annette Zeischka-Kenzler et al., “Apollonia: Preliminary Report,” Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel 130 (2018).
- Vardit Shotten-Hallel et al., “Apollonia, Arsur Castle,” Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel 133 (2021).
- Dan Mirkin, Deborah Cvikel, and Oren Tal, “Arsur Castle Maritime Installation (1241–1265 CE),” Palestine Exploration Quarterly 148, no. 4 (2016): 294.
- Hauke Kenzler, “Medieval Town Structures of Arsur on the Basis of Non-Invasive Methods Results of a German-Israeli Project Collaboration,” Zeitschrift Des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 132, no. 2 (2016): 151–74.
- Vardit R. Shotten-Hallel, “The Castle Chapel of Arsur New Evidence for Its Location and Architecture,” Crusading and Archaeology: Some Archaeological Approaches to the Crusades Crusades – Subsidia (2021).
- Hana Taragan, “The Tomb of Sayyidnā ‘Alī in Arūf: The Story of a Holy Place,” Journal of The Royal Asiatic Society (2004): 83-102.
- Hana Taragan, “The Tomb of Sayyidnā ‘Alī in Arūf: The Story of a Holy Place,” Journal of The Royal Asiatic Society (2004), 84.
- Hauke Kenzler and Annette Zeischka-Kenzler, “German-Israeli Research on the Crusader Town of Arsur and Its Former Lordship,” The European Archaeologist, no. 43 (Winter 2015)
Leave a Reply