The Apollonia National Park is a national park on the israeli Mediterranean coast at Herzliya in the north of Tel Aviv.
background
A rocky headland on Israel's Mediterranean coast had been inhabited since ancient times and was most recently of strategic importance as a fortified port for the crusaders.
The ancient settlement has been systematically researched under Israel Roll by the Tel Aviv Institute of Archeology since the 1990s, and excavations are ongoing. As Apollonia National Park the area was made accessible to the public in 2002; the most important sections are the area of a Roman Villa maritima and the ruins of the crusader fortress.
history
The Phoenicians began to settle this stretch of coast at the end of the 6th century. B.C.; in the settlement named in honor of the Phoenician goddess of war and storm Reshef Arsuf received, the Phoenicians found a protected small natural harbor and optimal conditions for fishing for the small sea snail from which purple was extracted.
Under Hellenistic rule, the Phoenicians identified their deity with the Greek god Apollo and the city received its Greek name Apollonia (Απολλωνία). The stretch of coast was taken by the Jewish Hasmoneans; the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus mentions Apollonia as one of the coastal cities under the rule of Alexander Jannaeus. In the Roman - Byzantine period the city experienced a heyday as Sozusa (Greek: Σώζουσα) and became one of the most important port cities on the southern coastal plain. It became a bishopric and had a basilica in the south and a sophisticated irrigation system based on cisterns.
Around 640 the city was captured by the Muslim troops, fortified and given the name Arsuf.
The crusaders did not succeed in taking the city until 1102 under King Baldwin I; it was attached and as Lordship of Arsour known. Arsuf was conquered again by the Muslims in 1187, but came back into the power of the Crusaders in 1191 in the Battle of Arsuf between Richard I "Lionheart" and Saladin. The fortifications were strengthened, and from 1261 the Hospitaller Knights were given control of the fortress. After a siege of over forty days by the Mamluks - Sultan Baibars, the crusaders were beaten and the survivors enslaved after they had to razor their fortress to the ground at the behest of the Mamluks.
The fortress was never settled again, the memory was given to the Roman Catholic titular diocese of until 1970 In Palestine, so to speak upright. In 1924 the place was in Herzliya incorporated. After the war of independence, the nearby Arab village of al-Haram was depopulated. Jewish immigrants were in Shikun Olim settled, in the nineties the settlement developed in the area of the cliff above the Mediterranean coast Arsuf with a large proportion of villas in one of Israel's most popular residential areas.
landscape
The national park area extends on a 30 m high sandstone cliff ("Kurkar") above the coastline.
Flora and fauna
Resistant "garrigue" vegetation has survived on the exposed area with a sandy bottom and salt water spray when the waves are high; the forest with Tabo oaks was felled in the Middle Ages by the shipbuilding of the crusaders, the rest of the trees fell victim to the building activities of the later Muslim rulers.
Small mammals, turtles and lizards keep in the park area. Some birds of prey, falcons, nest in the steep walls; Occasionally bee-eater and the hoopoe can be observed.
climate
The Israeli Mediterranean coast has a hot Mediterranean climate, and the months of the Israeli winter are the most suitable months for sightseeing.
getting there
From the autobahn 20 - Ayalon Highway you get from the 
HaMa'apilim Interchange and from the coastal highway 2 from the Rabin Interchange to Herzliya and turns on the coastal road in a northerly direction to 1 Parking of the national park.
Fees / permits
22/9 NIS
mobility
The park can be explored comfortably on foot, people with walking disabilities can get to the moat on a wheelchair accessible path (
); Inspection of the entire park area including the fortress is only possible on foot (
)
Tourist Attractions
- On the access path you first come to the remains of the trench and the 2 city wall the crusader city.
- To the left were the ruins of a Roman 3 Villa maritima excavated.
- The Sea Path leads along the coastline, the shorter one which is wheelchair accessible Short path straight to the fortress.
- There are several on the Sea Path 4 Cisterns, which were created to supply the city with water as early as Byzantine times.
- At a 5 Lookout point Above the coastline there was a furnace for burning mud bricks, which was used until the Ottoman period.
- A little north of the destroyed access bridge over the fortress moat, a new access was created, which leads directly to the entrance area between two 6 Semicircular towers leads.
- The highest point of the Kreufahrer fortress is the 7 Keep, the keep tower. They are a little to the north 8 Kitchen rooms with pantry, mill and dining room for the crusaders' crew.
- A short walk takes you to an ancient one 9 Wine press
activities
- You should allow 1 - 2 hours for the park tour, possibly the visit can be combined with a stay at one of the nearby beaches.
- The 10 Sidna Ali Mosque is named after the soldier Ali Ibn Alim, who died in the battle of the Crusader fortress in 1250. The mosque with its 21 m high minaret was built in 1481 and is still used for ritual purposes today, entry only with appropriate clothing.
- If one continues the footpath along the coast to the north, one arrives at the next stretch of coast, which is called Hof HaSharon National Park was also placed under protection.
shop
kitchen
In addition to tickets, ice cream, drinks and small snacks are available at the national park administration's kiosk. There are also toilets in the entrance area.
accommodation
security
The security situation is harmless, but one should refrain from crawling around on the ruins and near the cliffs; these regulations are posted in Hebrew, English and with symbols and are sometimes ignored not only by German-speaking tourists. The risk of falling from the cliff is considerable.
