Arsuf, Crusader castle ruins and archaeological site near Herzliya, Israel

Arsuf is a Crusader castle ruin and archaeological site perched on a cliff above the Mediterranean Sea near Herzliya. The grounds contain fortification walls, residential areas, and working spaces layered from different time periods that visitors can walk through.

The Phoenicians founded the town of Arshaf in the Persian period, naming it for the god Resheph; it later became the Greek Apollonia and the Byzantine Sozusa. Taken by the Muslims in 640, it was conquered by Baldwin I in 1101, not during the First Crusade but after it. In 1265 the Mamluks under Baibars destroyed the city and castle after a 40-day siege.

The site reveals how many peoples shaped this place over time, from Phoenicians and Romans to Byzantines, Muslims, and Crusaders who left their mark on the landscape. Walking through the ruins, you notice how different communities built upon what came before them.

The site is a national park with marked paths leading through excavations and showing different areas of the fortress. Wear sturdy shoes since the ground is uneven and the cliff edge drops sharply toward the sea.

The 1191 Battle of Arsuf was fought near the oak forest by the site, not at the cliff edge. Richard the Lionheart's Crusader army defeated Saladin's forces there, a victory that sustained the Kingdom of Jerusalem for decades. The site also yielded a hoard of 108 gold coins found in 2012 under a castle room floor.