There's more to Caesarea Philippi than I thought!

The second thing I didn't expect to see at Caesarea Philippi was King Agrippa II's palace and an ancient city.

The walk there was gorgeous. We followed Hermon Stream from the grotto into the woods, and this North Ga girl's heart was soooooo happy! Forests, streams, and waterfalls—yes please!

Along the way, we passed some modern ruins, like a mill and a hydro-electric station. I was so thankful for the shade, the cold water to splash on my face, and excited for what we would discover. I've basically realized that pretty much any place you go on a tour, you've probably only seen a piece of the entire park. There just isn't enough time to see it all. So this was completely brand new to me!

Then, there we were: Agrippa's palace

He had a very sophisticated sewage system for his day.

The palace ruins actually span either side of a modern day highway!

And then, outside of the palace, there are ruins from the town, including a basilica (of course) and a synagogue.

High up on the mountain in the distance is Nimrod Fortress!

Inside the synagogue:

As we left this area of ruins and walked around the corner, we found the cardo (main street), which tells us this was a very big town. Now it's a nature reserve with ruins, but that's only what we can see. There's so much more underneath the surface (as always!).

At the end of the path, as we walked to the parking lot, we saw this building, another excellent example of how Israel builds on top of the old.

The sign explains how below this building and on the building itself are building materials dating back millennia. You can literally see the passage of time and the modernization of tools and resources as your eyes move towards the roof!

Wow, there was so much more to this park than I realized! I can't wait to go back and explore more... somewhere in the forest is a waterfall!

The 4,000-year-old Abrahamic gate

It's not every day you see something that is over 4,000 years old.

This mud gate, with its iconic triple arch, has been verified to being present at Dan in Northern Israel during the time of Abraham.

“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan.” Genesis 14:14.

This gate was only in use for about half a century before it was covered over— because mud and rain don’t mix well. The arch over the doorway is one of the earliest compete arches found in the world.

The gate has a view of Nimrod fortress in the distance, which I still need to visit!

This is only part of my visit to Tel Dan Nature Reserve, which I will talk about more next week. This reserve contains part of the Dan Stream, which makes up one of the 3 headwaters of the Jordan River. It was unlike no other park I've been to in Israel, as we got to walk through the woods and sometimes, through the streams.

And it made this North Ga girl's heart so happy! There's nothing like being in the mountains, forests, and rivers!