The Crusaders captured Caesarea during the First Crusade. Godfrey of Bouillon imposed heavy taxes on the residents, who soon rose up in protest. Baldwin I's response: In 1101 he pillaged the city and slaughtered its residents.
In 1251, Louis IV fortified the city. The French king ordered the construction of high walls (parts of which are still standing) and a deep moat. However strong the walls were, they could not keep out the royal sultan Baybars, who hatched a brilliant scheme for how to take the city. He knew that the few soldiers on patrol could not properly guard the entire length of the walls, and thus he ordered his troops to scale the walls in a number of places at the very same time, thus enabling them to penetrate the city.
Within the fortified area the ground rises. Here can be seen remains of the ancient water supply and drainage system and the Herodian temple of Augustus. Nearby is the Crusader cathedral, with its three semicircular apses still standing. Dedicated to St Paul, it was built on the site of a Byzantine monastic church. This was probably the source of a famous trophy carried off by King Baldwin I when the Crusaders took the city in 1101.
On the seaward side of the cathedral can be seen a mosque built by Bosnian settlers at the end of the 19th century and the warehouses on the Old Harbor.
