Schaff's Bible Dictionary
CAESARE'A-PHILIPPI, the Greek Paneas, now called Banias by the Arabs, is a town at the base of Mount Hermon, about 20 miles north of the Sea of Galilee and 45 miles south-west of Damascus. It was the northern limit of our Lord's journeys. Matt 16:13; Mark 8:27, and was probably Baal-gad of Old Testament history. It was here that Peter, in the name of all the other apostles, made that fundamental confession of faith in Christ as the Son of God and the Saviour, and that Christ uttered the prophecy concerning the indestructible character of his Church. Matt 16:16 ff.
The gushing waters of the sources of the Jordan and the immovable rocks of Mount Hermon were in full view when our Lord spoke those words, and served to illustrate their meaning. The landscape is one of the most beautiful in Palestine, and has been called the Syrian Tivoli. History. — The town is remarkable for its physical and historical associations. ; it became the seat of a bishopric; it was repeatedly Caesarea. (From a Photograph. ) Csesarea-Philippi, or Banias. ) Sources of the Jordan near Banias.
) CAE CAL taken during the Crusades, It is now called Banias, and has about 50 houses, many ruins of columns, towers, temples, a bridge, and of a remarkable castle. The place is now noted for one of the chief sources of the Jordan, which rushes in clear crystal springs from beneath the rocks of Mount Hermon, and flows rapidly towards Dan, uniting with another source below that town.