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The city’s fascinating historical heritage, a rare blend of East and West, authentic sights from the past, a unique meeting place of art and religion alongside the remains of various cultures – all these have made Acre one of the most important cities of the ancient world.
The walls of the city, its fortresses and citadels, its churches and mosques and the other buildings within its boundaries, tell the history of the many rulers who governed it and fought for it, who built the city and glorified it.
Acre’s most prominent sites include ruins from the Hellenistic-Roman period and buildings from the Crusader and Ottoman periods: Al Jazar Mosque, the buildings of the Order of Saint John, the subterranean Crusader city, Khan Al Omdan, the Turkish Baths (which now house the municipal museum), the Bahai Temple and more. In Acre you will be able to see the fingerprints of many peoples and religious movements: the Canaanites, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Crusaders, the Mamelukes, the Turks and the British. Acre’s colorful Oriental markets, the city walls, the museums the beaches and the sea-sports sites, Fisherman’s Port, the marina, the restaurants, and the colorful festivals that are held in Acre annually – are a few more of the city’s tourist attractions. A visit to Acre is one-of-a-kind experience and an exciting trip to the splendid past. we will be happy to welcome you to an exciting visit to an old city with a young soul.
Walls and wars
Old Acre is one of the few cities in the world whose walls remained standing over the years, despite being attacked by big and powerful armies a number of times. However, in the early 20th century the British regime constructed two openings in the wall in order for motorized troops to enter the city.
A walk along the land wall and along the sea wall is a unique experience, which illustrates the military strength of the protected city.
The Old City was fortified, for the first time, in the days of the Cairo-based Ptomy Regime (the Moslem Regime). In the year 950 the ruler Ibn Tolon ordered the construction of a wall around the city of Acre. The wall was renovated in 1071, in preparation for the Seljuck invasion of the Land of Israel and later, in preparation for the Crusader conquest in 1099. The Crusaders renovated the walls of Acre and, in the early 13th century – added a new line of walls, built new towers and increased the height of the wall.
In 1291 the Mamlukes totally destroyed the city wall.
In 1750 the Bedouin ruler Dahar El-Omar fortified the walls of the city, which had been severely damaged, but not destroyed.
Between 1800 and 1814 new walls (the Al Jazar walls) were built around Acre. These are especially thick, double walls, with wide and strong watchtowers. In addition, heavy guns for protecting the city were put in place.
Crusader Ottoman
The Acre Fortress is the most prominent building on the landscape of Old Acre alongside Jazar Mosque, and is the largest building in the Old City and the city of Acre’s most important building from a historical and tourism perspective.
Here one can see the complete and most impressive remains of a Crusader fortress in Israel, which was built by the Hospitaller Order of knights in the 12th and 13th centuries, and the Ottoman Fortress from the 18th and 19th centuries, which was, at one time, the largest and most important of the fortresses of the Ottoman regime in Israel, and was preserved in its entirety.
The basement and ground floors of the Crusader Fortress remain intact, as are a few parts of the second floor. The Ottoman Fortress remains intact.
Following archeological excavations and thanks to the restorative work that was performed at the fortress, it is now possible to tour most of the site, (apart from the section of the west wing located under the Shazalia Mosque and a few additional sections, which are currently being renovated and will open in the future.)
The Fortress – the Hospitaller Fortress
The origin of the Order of the Hospitallers (the Johnists), named after John the Baptist, is a charitable society that was founded in Jerusalem in the year 1070 (at the end of the Arab Period) on the initiative of merchants from the city of Amalfi, in Italy. The purpose of the Hospitallers was to host the Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land and to provide them with medical assistance
The Hospitaller Fortress
The Fortress is built in the form of four wings surrounding an open courtyard. The north wing was built along the northern wall of the city, making the Fortress an integral part of the defense of the the walls of Acre and the main gate to the north. This wing is made up of nine long and narrow halls: halls 1 – 6 served as storerooms, halls 7 and 8 as a large reservoir into which the rainwater from the roofs of the Fortress drained, and hall 9 served as a passageway to the central courtyard from the north. A spacious hall was built in the eastern wing, measuring 35 X 40 meters. The hall has a cruciform vaulted ceiling borne by square columns, apertures facing the north and wide windows facing the west and the south. It served as a conference and ceremonial hall for the knights of the order.
In the south wing an elegant hall with a cruciform vaulted ceiling was discovered, supported by three round columns with a particularly large diameter. The hall is elegant, with decorations at the bases of the columns that support the ceiling. Two openings face the central courtyard: a door that opens to the east and wide windows facing the south. This hall apparently served as the order’s dining room. Next to it there is another hall, also in the south wing. This hall has not yet been uncovered but it is reasonable to assume that it served as the kitchen. The north wing is a two-story wing and was used as a dormitory for the warriors. In the northern part of this hall public toilets were discovered, also built in two levels, each of which contained some 30 toilet stalls. The stalls were drained by means of drainpipes installed in the walls and leading to an underground collection room, which drained, into a central municipal sewage conduit The western dormitory wing and the southern dining room wing were built in elegant gothic style, unlike the remaining wings and appear to have been built at a later date.
The Southern Road
South of the Hospitaller Fortress a municipal road that passed through the Hospitaller Quarter was uncovered. The road runs southward from the northern city wall (which is called St. John’s Gate) along the eastern wall of the quarter, and then continues westward, passing between the fortress and the Church of St. John. At a distance of some 50 meters the road turns southward in the direction of the Genoese Quarter. A monumental stone gate was erected in this part of the road and enable the Hospitallers to close off the road during emergencies. An additional public road adjoins with the Southern Road and runs eastward, towered the King’s Quarter. This street, which is some 10 meters wide, is paved with stone tablets. A row of shops were uncovered along part of the road.
The Enchanted Garden
During the Crusader Period the Enchanted Garden was situated in the northern part of the city, adjacent to the wall. To the east of the garden stood the Crusader King’s palace in Acre, and to the west, the military fortress of the Hospitallers – the Order of St. John.
During the Ottoman Period the ruler’s palace was built on the remains of the Hospitaller fortress, and the garden became part of the gardens of the Pasha’s private palace.
In 1799 a battle was fought in the garden between Napoleon’s soldiers and the defenders of the city. The soldiers of Napoleon’s army, who invaded the city, were repelled and ultimately failed to conquer it. The garden is part of the Visitors and Reservations Center and serves as the new approach to the fortress for the city of Acre and the entire Galilee region.
The Templars’ Tunnel
During the second half of the 12th century the members of the Templar Order began building their quarter in the south-western part of Acre. A writer who lived in the city at the end of the 13th century describes their fortress as follows:
“The Templar Fortress was the strongest one in the city and, in the main, abutted the sea line. Its entrance was protected by two strong towers with walls 28 feet thick. On either side of the towers two smaller towers were built and each tower was topped by a gilded lion.” A tunnel led eastward from the fortress, the remains of which are now covered by the sea. The lower part of the tunnel was carved from natural stone, and its upper part was built from hewn stones covered by a semi-barreled dome. The tunnel transverses the Pisan Quarter and leads to the city port in the east, a distance of 350 meters. The tunnel was discovered in 1994 and was opened to the public in September 1999. In order to open it to the public it was necessary to clear away dirt, to install a system of pumps in order to maintain a fixed groundwater level and to build a wooden path and install lighting.
The Turkish Bazaar
The Acre bazaar was completely deserted for a period of 450 years, since the year 1291, when the Crusaders were banished. After this period a new city was built on top of the remains of the Crusader city. The building was begun by a Bedouin ruler, Dahar Al-Omer (1750 – 1775) who established an independent kingdom in the Galilee and made Acre its capital. He renovated the city walls, cleaned the port and built his private palace in the city.
In 1775 the city of Acre was attacked by an Egyptian Ottoman officer by the name of Ahmed Al-Jazar, who executed Dahar Al-Omer as a rebel against the Ottoman regime. Ahmed Al-Jazar carried on the work of Dahar Al-Omer and established Acre as the main commercial city of the entire region. During the period of Al-Jazar many mosques, bathhouses, khans and bazaars were built to serve the citizens of the city. The Turkish Bazaar was built at the end of the 18th century as a municipal market to serve the local population. The market was deserted in the year 1948 with the capture of the Old City by the IDF, and opened recently as an artisans and artists bazaar. The bazaar now contains small shops specializing in the sale of souvenirs and objects d’art to tourists. The bazaar is open all week long until 18:00. During the festival period it is open to the public until much later.
The White Market (Shuq Al-Abiad)
The market was built by Dahar Al-Omer, destroyed in a fire and rebuilt by Suleiman Pasha in 1817. It takes its name from the white limestone from which it is built. The market is unusual in character, since the street and the market are designed as a single unit. The plan of the building includes a vaulted ceiling above the street, with small shops barrel vaulted ceilings. The high vaults in the center, the apertures and the light all give the market a light and attractive nature. The passageways become narrower in an almost uniform manner as they extend in the direction of the city and the width of the hall is uniform along its entire length.
Market Street
Market street is the main road of the Old City and runs from the north to the south. During the Crusader Period this road led from the Hospitallers Gate in the north, along the route of the market or through Via Regis, all the way to the port. Today, the main market of Old Acre is located on this route – a colorful market with many stalls selling fish and sweet Oriental pastries, as well as shops selling perfume and original spice stores. The market has undergone a renovation process, which encompassed the shops, the facades and the pedestrian walkway.
Two important Jewish sites are located at the southern end of the market: Parchi House and the Ramhal Synagogue.
The market is open all week long until 17:00.
During the festival period it is open to the public until much later.
The walls of Acre
.Old Acre is surrounded by walls in the shape of an irregular pentagon, with three principle wall lines and secondary fortifications (moats, counter walls, external outposts and so forth). One wall has survived virtually intact, while only parts of the others remain. The wall system was built in stages between 1750 and 1840.
The first wall that was built in Acre during the Ottoman Period was built by Dahar El-Omar in the years 1750 – 1751. This wall was built in great haste, in many cases while renovating and repairing the remains of the Crusader wall, but also included new sections. When the work was done the wall encircled the entire city of Acre on both the land side and the sea side. This was a thin wall (approximately one meter thick) whose height ranged from 10 to 13 meters.
The wall included towers and khans, unprotected by a moat or battery. There were two gates in the wall: the Seria Gate in the northwestern part of the city and the Sea Gate (or Damascus Gate) in the southeastern part. The most heavily fortified section was in the northern wall, which was the site of the palace of Dahar (the Acre Fortress), which was surrounded by a 5.5 meter wide moat
Hamam al Basha (the Turkish Bath)
A public bathhouse that was built by El-Jazar in the year 1795 in the format of the Oriental bathhouses that were common in the Turkish Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries. The bathhouse has an entry room that serves as a dressing room, with a marble fountain in the center. A corridor leads from the entry room to a series of hot rooms, the last of which is a hexagonal steam room, with a domed roof supported by four marble columns, with four rooms for individual use, one at each corner. The bathhouse building is an elegant one and is adorned with marble floors and imported ceramic tiles.
The Story of the Last Bath Attendant - A Performance at the Al Basha Hammam (Turkish Bath)
The Acre Turkish Baths, one of the most beautiful and fascinating sites in the Old City, comes to life through an imaginary play based on a line of bath attendants that tell the history of Acre during the Ottoman Period.
History takes on an especially luscious dimension when seen through the eyes of the bath attendant, because the Turkish Baths were much more than a religious purification house. The Baths served as a social center where people met for rest, entertainment and banquets. The Baths were a meeting place for doctors and barbers and served as a house of luxury for the wealthy and prominent as well as for the common people of the city. This was where they talked, gossiped, laughed and philosophized.
The Al Basha Hammam Theater takes you on a dramatic, fascinating and educating light and sound experience. The lives of a typical family of bath attendants introduce you to the story of Acre from the time the Turkish Baths were built at the end of the 18th century by Jazzar Pasha. He was the Acre governor that turned the small fishing village into a teeming harbor city and a major trade and cultural center.
Ending the tour in one of the local restaurants serving the best of the Arabic kitchen.
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