Israel

Old City of Acre

WHS Score 3.26 Votes 66 Average 3.46

The Old City of Acre is renowned for its Crusader buildings and its Ottoman walled town.

This port city has been continuously inhabited since Phoenician times. During the First Crusade, the Crusaders made the town their chief port in Palestine and substantial remains of its medieval buildings have been preserved. The city revived at the end of the 18th century under Ottoman rule, resulting in a typical Ottoman walled town with a citadel, mosques, khans and baths.

Community Perspective: It’s essentially two cities, with the walled Ottoman city (showing signs of neglect) on top and the Crusader city (over-restored, commercialized) below it. The site has a fairly good Community Rating, but the reviewers gave it little praise.

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Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Old City of Acre (ID: 1042)
Country
Israel
Status
Inscribed 2001 Site history
History of Old City of Acre
WHS Type
Cultural
Criteria
  • ii
  • iii
  • v
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
News Article

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Urban landscape: Urban continuity
Travel Information
Exact locations inscribed twice (or more)
Exact locations inscribed twice (or more)
Contains two named Baha'i sites, of which at least House …
Recent Connections
View all (58) .
Connections of Old City of Acre
Individual People
  • Frederick II
    Came there in the 6th Crusade
  • Marco Polo
    He received his credentials and picked up his 2 "Friar" travelling companions there
  • Baha’u’llah
    Lived in the prison-city of Akk? between 1868 and 1879
  • Napoleon was here
    Besieged by Napoleon. If he ever set foot in the town is not known.
  • Frederick Barbarossa
    Frederick participated in the Second Crusade. "With Byzantine ships and money, the German army (...) left Constantinople on 7 March 1148 and arrived in Acre on 11 April."

    See en.wikipedia.org

  • Edward I
    During the 9th Crusade, the only city in the Holy Land then still under Christian control was relieved from an Egyptian siege by Edward in May 1271. He survived being stabbed there with a poisoned dagger by an "Assassin" and was supposedly saved by his wife, Eleanor of Castile, sucking the poison! His Daughter was called "Joan of Acre" having been born there.
  • Richard Lionheart
    Landed 1191
  • Baibars
    besieged 1263
  • Saladin
    Captured 1191
  • Gertrude Bell
    Photo taken June 1900
Geography
Trivia
History
  • Sieges and Battles
    2 sieges: first confrontation of the Third Crusade (1189-1191), and an unsuccessful French siege of the Ottoman-defended, walled city of Acre (in 1799) which was the turning point of Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and Syria
  • Pisan colonies
  • Assyrian Empire
    Acre came under Assyrian influence and control as the Assyrian Empire expanded westward in the 8th century BC.

    See g.co

  • Umayyad Caliphate
    The first Umayyad caliph, Muawiyah I (r. 661-680), regarded the coastal towns of the Levant as strategically important. Thus, he strengthened Acre's fortifications (wiki)
  • Ottoman Empire
    Ottoman walled town.
  • Located in a Former Capital
    Kingdom of Jerusalem 1187-1291
  • Amarna Letters
  • Teutonic Knights
    Order was formed there at end of 12th century
  • Knights Templar
    Became the Order's HQ until 1291 after Saladin had taken Jerusalem in 1187.
  • The Crusades
    "the siege of Acre was successfully completed in 1104, with the city capitulating to the forces of King Baldwin I of Jerusalem following the First Crusade. The Crusaders made the town their chief port in the Kingdom of Jerusalem." (wiki)

    See en.wikipedia.org

  • Via Maris
  • Republic of Genoa
  • Mamluk Sultanate
    The Mameluke period (named after the Moslem rulers of Egypt) began in 1291 with the conquest of Acre and continued until 1517. Acre came within the mamluka of Gaza. The city was destroyed and totally abandoned, with only a few buildings remaining around the port (AB ev)
Damaged
World Heritage Process
Religion and Belief
Human Activity
Constructions
Timeline
  • Built in the 12th century
    Crusader period: "the city gained international significance from 1104 to 1291 as the capital of the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem "
  • Built in the 18th century
    Ottoman walled town: "flourished again in the 18th century as the capital of this part of the Ottoman Empire"
WHS Hotspots
Science and Technology
  • Underwater Archaeology
    In addition to archaeological findings on land, archaeologists have discovered remnants from various periods under the sea, such as gravel quarry, sea wall, towers and sunken vessels together with their cargoes. (nom file)

    See cgate.co.il

18
News
haaretz.com 09/19/2010
Controversial plan envisions homes…
news.bbc.co.uk 10/13/2008
Riots in Acre
Recent Visitors
Reserved for members.

Community Reviews

Show full reviews
First published: 10/02/20.

Ilya Burlak

Old City Of Acre

Old City of Acre (Inscribed)

Old City of Acre by Ilya Burlak

I recognize that Acre did not get a fair shake from me on my trip to Israel in November of 2019. I initially planned to visit it with a guide, in the early part of my itinerary, and give it 3-4 hours. In the end, I visited on my own, towards the end of my stay, and left for my next scheduled stop after barely two hours.

The World Heritage inscription of Acre is based on both its Crusader history and its features as an Ottoman fortified town. To get a good appreciation of the former, one needs to visit some of the paid points of interest in town. For the Ottoman features and the fortifications all you need to do is walk around the town core. When I did that, I encountered many signs of neglect, which colored my impression significantly. There are certainly picturesque corners and perspectives, but also frequent instances of dilapidation. Mosques are definitely the best-maintained building, as they would be in any other Muslim-majority town. Khans are impressive from a distance, but upon close inspection appear very much run-down. I am probably stretching it to make an excuse, but this general feeling of the town not being well cared after must have contributed to the fact that I neither took many pictures nor felt that I needed to extend my time in Acre.

I suspect a guided tour would go a long way to change that impression - when I come back, I …

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First published: 20/11/19.

Gablabcebu

Old City Of Acre

Old City of Acre (Inscribed)

Old City of Acre by GabLabCebu

WHS#54

Acre is another very unique site in the Holy Land. Just like Jerusalem and Bet Guvrin, it has no equal or comparable sites both in the region and in the world. Really, Acre is 2 cities, one above the other. The city we all see is the walled Arab city with its Ottoman architecture. Below it lies the wonder of the Crusader city, now mostly filled by tourists. Each chamber seems to have been converted into a museum exhibit, complete with colored lights shining onto the stone walls. The architecture is mostly evident in its pointed arches and groin vaults. After this, I pass through the markets and jewelry stores of Ottoman Acre to get to the Tunnels, another Crusader creation. These passages, unlike the vast hallways I had seen earlier, were used for military emergencies, and were quite cramped, with some sections where I had to bend while walking (a preview for the Pyramids of Giza?). This ended up being my favorite part of the short tour I had of the city as there were no other tourists. After surfacing again by the sea, I walked the seawalls to have a scenic view of the old harbor. By this time, the attractions of Ottoman times were already closed, so I got going. I visited in April 2018 on a long drive from Tel Aviv to the Galilee, so I only had a couple hours or so in Acre after visiting Caesarea and Haifa, but it definitely overshadowed …

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First published: 22/04/19.

Andreatlv

Old City Of Acre

Old City of Acre (Inscribed)

Old City of Acre by Luis Filipe Gaspar

Akko is a great place to visit. The ancient sites are amazing, but also there is a very old, authentic shuk. You can also walk along a beautiful beach.

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First published: 25/01/14.

Solivagant

Old City Of Acre

Old City of Acre (Inscribed)

Old City of Acre by Solivagant

The Old City of Acre really has 2 aspects to it – the external experience of the narrow mediaeval streets/souks, walls and harbour and the interior experience of the “pay to visit” sites – in particular the Crusader City. The external aspects are pleasant enough with some nice views of and from the ancient walls of the town and harbours and, in the souks, what an earlier reviewer has called a “Jerusalem Feel”. Some parts have been restored but others are very run down- particularly some of the Khans. Yet, it was amazing how many run down buildings had a big notice stating that “This property is not for sale”! I guess there are investment plans which have yet to come fully to fruition.

I will concentrate this review on the “pay to view” visit. We had an Israeli National Parks pass but none of the “attractions” in Acre are under its control. It appears that Acre’s development and tourist sites are run by a government capitalized organization called “The Old Acre Development Company”. Its Web site is here - It is interesting to read its Tourism Development strategy - this extract gives a good feel for what it is about - “To create experiential centers in the Old City's port and waterfront as bustling public expanses interconnected by pedestrian routes and a chain of events to be held throughout the year as a long-term infrastructure to achieve a constant flow of tourists and visitors.”

An understanding …

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First published: 04/06/06.

Christer Sundberg

Old City Of Acre

Old City of Acre (Inscribed)

Old City of Acre by Christer Sundberg

Further up the Isreli coast, just as you've passed Haifa, you reach to the old town of Acre. Or Acco, which is the locals name for the town. For me it was a rainy day in December and having reached the town by train, I hopped into a taxi in order to quickly get to the older parts of the town, located right next to the Mediterranean seaside.

They say that the weather makes half the experience and this time it was a wet one. But with the sun on your side Acre is a brilliant little town which history dates back to Canaanite times. Acre has somewhat of a 'Jerusalem feel' to itself but actually reflects the time of the Crusaders and the Arabs. Actually, it is the ruins of the 'Crusader City' that today is Acre's major attraction. When the Ottomans rebuilt Acre, they did so on top of the old Crusader City which lies 25 feet below that of today. It has now been unearthed, revealing big Gothic halls and underground tunnels. And if that isn't enough, a visit to the Mosque of El-Jazzar, the bazaars and a lunch by the seaside will easily kill more than a couple of hours. Acre is easily accessible from Tel Aviv or Haifa and definitely worth a visit.

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First published: 01/05/05.

John Booth

Old City Of Acre

Old City of Acre (Inscribed)

Old City of Acre by Luis Filipe Gaspar

Akko/Acre/Ptolomais has been occupied by Greeks, Romans, Persians and Egyptians, as well as the Phoenecians, the Crusaders, the Ottomans and the British.

Under the Ottomans the city achieved notoriety as a prison city; amongst its notable prisoners was Bahau'llah, founder of the Baha'i Faith. The British continued the tradition by incarcerating and executing a number of notorius Jewish 'terrorists'. The prison museum is open to visitors.

Less traumatic to visit are the Ottoman inns or khans. In these inns merchants from all over the Mediterranean area came to conduct trade.

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