Caesarea Philippi lay at the far north of Palestine, at the foot of Mount Hermon, where waters rise that feed the Jordan River.
The place had long been known as Panias, because of a Greek shrine dedicated to the god Pan, built beside a cave and the springs. Philip, son of Herod and tetrarch of the region, rebuilt the city and renamed it Caesarea Philippi, in honor of the Roman emperor and of himself.
It was, therefore, a clearly pagan center, marked by temples and foreign cults, far removed from the Jewish setting of Galilee.
It was precisely there, surrounded by symbols of other gods, that Jesus asked his disciples who they said he was. Simon Peter answered that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus then declared that he would build his church on this confession of faith, and promised Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
The contrast between the pagan setting and the messianic declaration shows that recognizing Christ is born of revelation from God, not from the surrounding circumstances.
