Caesarea-philippi
Caesarea-Philippi We give a further description of this place from Porter's Hand-book for Palestine, p. 324 sq.
"This ancient city occupies one of the most picturesque sites in Syria. A broad terrace on the mountain-side looks out over the plain of Huleh to the castellated heights of Hunlu. Behind it rises in rugged peaks the southern ridge of Hermon, wooded to the summit. Two sublime ravines cut deeply into the ridge, having between, them an isolated cone more than one thousand feet in height, crowned by the ruins of the castle of Subeibeh. On the terrace at the base of this cone lie the ruins of Csesarea Philippi. The terrace itself is covered with oaks and olive-trees, having green glades and clumps of hawthorn and myrtle here and there-all alive with Streams of water and cascades.
"The ruins of the city extend from the base of the cliff on the north to the banks of a picturesque ravine three hundred or four hundred yards southward. The stream from the great fountain bounds the site on the north-west and west, and then falls into this ravine, so that the city stood within the angle formed by the junction of two ravines. The most conspicuous ruin is the citadel-a quadrangle some four acres in extent, surrounded by a massive wall, with tower's at the angles and along the sides. On the east, south, and west the walls are still from ten to twenty feet high, though broken and shattered. The northern and western walls are washed by the stream from the fountain; along the eastern wall is a deep moat; while the southern is carried along the brow of the chasm ,called Wad Za'areh. This chasm is spanned by a bridge, from Which a gateway opens into the citadel. The substructions of the bridge, the gateway, and the round corner-towers of the citadel are of high antiquity, being constructed of large bevelled stones. They have been repaired however, as we learn from an Arabic inscription over the gate, in comparatively recent times. The most striking view of the site and surrounding scenery is obtained from the south bank of Wady Za'areh, a -few paces below the bridge. The chasm is at our feet, with the streamlet dashing through it amid rocks and clumps of oleanders; then we have the old bridge, garlanded with creepers and long trails of ferns; then the shattered walls and towers of the citadel; then the wooded slopes around, with the castle of Subeibeh towering high over all. The ruins of the town cover the south bank of Wady Za'areh, with a portion of the level ground to the west and northwest of the citadel. Great numbers of granite and limestone shafts lie amid heaps of hewn stones. The modern village consists of some forty houses huddled together in a corner of the citadel- that of the sheikh crowning a massive tower at the north-eastern angle. Some of the houses have on their flat roof a little arbor formed of branches of trees; in these the inhabitants sleep during the summer, to escape the multitudes of scorpions, fleas, and other creatures that swarm in every dwelling."
