The history of Akko

There is some confusion about the name of this port city. In Arabic they pronounce it as Akka. In English it will usually be called Acre. And Israelis call it Akko. The word Acre was introduced by the Crusaders in the 11th century. The root letters AK can be found in Egyptian execration texts that date back to the 19th century BCE.

Three parts of Akko

Ancient Akko is situated on a Tel east of the old city. This is where the first small settlement started in the early bronze age. In the middle bronze age it grew into a fortified city. They found so many pottery shards that the local Palestinians called it Tel el Fukhar, the mount of the oven. Today it is often referred to as Napoleon’s hill. There is a statute of Napoleon on his horse looking towards Akko. He tried to take it in 1799 but he was not successful. The walls that we see today around the old city are not the same walls that Napoleon tried to breach. These walls were built after the siege of Napoleon by Ottoman governor Ahmad Al Jazzar. The walls surround the old city of Akko with its Palestinian population and most of the tourist attractions. To the west of the old city is modern Akko that developed after the State of Israel was created. In modern Akko the majority of the population is Jewish Israelis.

What to see and do during a visit in Akko?

In the old city of Akko you will see remains mainly from the Crusader period and from the Ottoman period. In the last decades a lot of Crusader remains that were buried under the newer layer of the city, were uncovered. The most spectacular find were the Crusader Knight’s halls that were part of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John.

The Crusader Knight’s halls

When you arrive to Akko from the northern side you will find the entrance to the Enchanted Garden with its 150 year old Ficus trees. From there you can find the Visitor Center with a model of old Akko and you can get your entrance tickets. Inside the Knight’s halls you have the opportunity to read about the history on the many information signs and you can also get an audio guide.

The Crusader halls were situated around a big courtyard with a water well and latrines that you can also visit.

The Al Jazzar mosque of Akko

It is only a short distance from the Knight’s halls to the nearby Al Jazzar mosque. The mosque is open to visitors except during prayer times. This is the second biggest mosque in Palestine after the Al Aqsa mosque. You can enter without having to take off your shoes but women have to wear modestly and put a scarf over their head.

The Turkish bath house in Akko

Another interesting visit is to the Turkish bath or the hammam, where you will learn about the history of this bath house that was established during the time of Ahmad Al Jazzar. They made two entertaining videos to describe the history and how the bath house was used.

The khans of Akko

A stroll through the city will definitely bring you past several of the khans that were built to service the merchants and traders that came to Akko port and to the market to trade. The khan consisted of a courtyard around which there were stables on the ground floor for the animals and storage rooms for the products. On the upper floor there were rooms for the guests to stay the night. Khan el Franj was built by merchants from France. The term Franj in Arabic was used not only for French people but for all foreigners from the West. Another spectacular khan is the Khan of the Pillars, Khan el Umdan. The columns used to hold up the upper floors are Roman columns brought from the archaeological sites of Caesarea and Atlit.

The Crusader tunnel

Between the port of Akko and the fortress of the Templars on the western part of the city, a 150 meter long tunnel was excavated. This tunnel may have been dug to supply the Templars from the port. As there was spring water running through the tunnel, it is suggested that they used small rafts to fast flow over the water towards the fortress.

The fortification walls of Akko

The walls that we see today were built by Ahmad al Jazzar in the early 19th century, after Napoleon had retreated. Al Jazzar wanted to make sure that during a next possible siege, the walls wouldn’t breach. The earlier walls had been built by Daher el Omar who was an independent Arab ruler over the Galilee during the Ottoman period in the 18th century. We can still see a few remains of that wall inside the park near the northern entrance to the city. The city was supplied with fresh water coming from a spring in the north through an aqueduct that had already been in existence since the Hellenistic period but was renovated in later times and again by Ahmad al Jazzar.

Listen to the podcast episode about Akko

If you want to learn more details then click on the icon on the top to listen to the full podcast episode about Akko!