Akko is a city in the Western Galilee (Israel), located about 18 km north of the city of Haifa, on the coast mediterranean sea. The city is considered one of the world's attractions and is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Cities.
Akko is one of the cities in Israel, whose history continued, according to archaeologists, almost without interruption for over 4000 years. Akko was located at the crossroads of international trade routes and therefore has always been the center of history. Akko was a meeting place for many diverse cultures and a strategic location for military campaigns.
The first mention of Acre dates back to around 1456 BC. e. (according to other sources in 1468 BC) and found in the list of conquered cities during the first military campaign of Thutmose III, carved on the wall of the Karnak temple of Amun in Thebes. Later, the city came under the rule of the Hittites and was reconquered by Seti I in the 13th century BC. e., along with other southern Phoenician cities. During this period, it was a Canaanite city, located in a place called today "Tel Acre - Tel el-Pukhar", northeast of the modern city, 700 meters from the sea.
In the book of Joshua, as well as in other sources, the city was mentioned under the names "Ahshaf" and "Umma".
In the era of the kingdom of Israel was under the rule of the Phoenicians. In the Bible, it is mentioned under the name Akko in the book of Judges in connection with the resettlement of the tribe of Asher, into whose allotment Akko entered, but from which he could not expel the local Canaanite inhabitants. " Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acre, and the inhabitants of Sidon, and Ahlav, and Achziv, and Helba, and Aphek, and Rehob.
» (Judg.1:31)
In 701 BC. e. Akko was conquered by the Assyrian king Sancherib. The population of Akko rebelled against his grandson Esarhaddon (Ashurbanipal), who, however, again took possession of Akko in about 650 BC. e. During the period of Persian rule, Acre became a naval base that played an important role in the war against Egypt.
After the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, Acre was not conquered by them and remained under the rule of Tyre. It was quickly conquered by Alexander the Great in 333 BC and turned into a Greek colony. In 330 BC, Acre moved from Tel Acre to the seashore. Akko became the most important port city in the country, and one of the largest cities in the Hellenistic world. The city spread over an area of 1000 dunams.
After the death of Alexander the Great, the city was taken over by the Egyptian Ptolemies, who gave it the name Ptolemais. Under this name Akko is mentioned in the Bible, in the letters of the Apostle Paul. Captured by Antiochus the Great in 219 BC. e. Akko became part of the Seleucid Empire and was named Antioch. Being under the rule of the Seleucids, Akko repeatedly served as a base for military operations against Judea. After the death of Antiochus VII Sidet, Acre passed from one Hellenistic ruler to another and became a de facto independent city.
During the time of the Hasmonean state, Acre was besieged by the troops of Alexander Yannoy. At that moment, Akko had the status of a free Greek city, headed by the city state council (Bule). Bule Akko turned to Ptolemy Latour for help. Ptolemy arrived to the aid of the besieged Akko with an army of thirty thousand and landed in the area of \u200b\u200bmodern Haifa. Under the pressure of this, Alexander Jannay had to lift the siege from Akko, although he advanced to the very approaches to the city.
Under Pompey in 52-54. BC e. Acre was annexed to the Roman Empire. In 48-47 years. BC e. Julius Caesar landed in Acre. In 39 BC. e. Herod I used Acre as a stronghold in his military operations against Matityahu Antigonus II. When the First Jewish War began, the inhabitants of Acre massacred two thousand Jews. In 67 a.d. e. from Akko, Vespasian undertook a campaign against the rebellious Galilee. The importance of Akko's harbor diminished after Herod I built a port at Caesarea. During the Roman period, Akko significantly outgrew the boundaries of the Old City. During this period, Jews continued to live in the city, but never constituted a majority in it. The Jews called the city still Akko.
In 638, Akko was captured by the Arabs, and a port was built in 804-868.
The city is considered one of the world's attractions and is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Cities.
Population
Population 46,400 (2009) of which:
- 5% - others
Population - 46.3 thousand people (according to the Central Bureau of Statistics on December 31).
Story
Ancient history
View of Old Akko from a great height
Akko is one of the cities in Israel whose history has continued without interruption for over 4000 years. Akko was located at the crossroads of international trade routes and therefore has always been the center of history. Akko was a meeting place for many diverse cultures and a strategic location for military campaigns.
The first mention of the city dates back to the 19th century BC. e. (in the region of 1800 BC) in the ancient Egyptian cuneiform archives of the correspondence of the Canaanite kings found during excavations in El Amarna. During this period, it was a Canaanite city, located in a place called today "Tel Acre (Heb. תל עכו ) - Tel el-Pukhar ", northeast of the modern city, 700 meters from the sea. In the book of Joshua, as well as in other sources, the city was mentioned under the names "Ahshaf" and "Umma".
During the era of the kingdom of Israel was under the rule of the Phoenicians. In the Bible, it is mentioned under the name Akko in the book of Judges in connection with the resettlement of the tribe of Asher, into whose allotment Akko entered, but from which he could not expel the local Canaanite inhabitants. " Asher did not expel the inhabitants of Acre, and the inhabitants of Sidon, and Ahlav, and Achziv, and Helva, and Aphek, and Rehov." (Court. )
After the death of Alexander the Great, the city was taken over by the Egyptian Ptolemies, who gave it the name Ptolemais. Under this name, Akko is mentioned in the Bible, in the epistles of the Apostle Paul. Captured by Antiochus the Great in 219 BC. e. Akko became part of the Seleucid Empire and was named Antioch. Being under the rule of the Seleucids, Akko repeatedly served as a base for military operations against Judea. After the death of Antiochus VII Sidet, Acre passed from one Hellenistic ruler to another and became a de facto independent city.
Richard the Lionheart and Leopold V receive the keys to the city of Acre
The city became the capital of the Crusaders in Palestine and was surrounded by powerful defensive structures. The city received a new name - Saint-Jean d'Acre.
Turkish rule
Then for 400 years Akko was a small fishing village. In 1517 it was conquered by the Ottoman Turks under the command of Selim I. At the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, the city was ruled by the Druze Fakhr-a-din, who began to rebuild the city. In 1721 Dahar al-Amar al-Zainudi became the ruler of Galilee. Realizing the strategic location of the city, he made it his capital and began to rebuild. First of all, he renewed the walls, the size of which was reduced in comparison with the period of the crusaders, and secondly, he invited Jews, Muslims and the French to settle again in the city and created appropriate conditions for them. In 1752 he built a fortress. In 1775, the Bosnian officer Ahmed came to power in the city, nicknamed Al-Jazzar (in Arabic, "jazzar" - a butcher) for his attitude towards opponents. Al-Jazzar continued the restoration of the city, built new mosques on the site of churches, a Turkish bath, strengthened the walls, built his palace, bazaar. In 1799, thanks to his Jewish adviser Chaim Farhi and the English admiral Sidney Smith, he was able to resist the siege of the city, undertaken by General Bonaparte at the head of an army of 13,000. Tom eventually had to return to Egypt and abandon plans to advance to India. Al-Jazzar was succeeded by his son Suleiman, and he was succeeded by his brother Abdullah. Fearing too much influence of Chaim Farhi, Abdullah decided to deal with him and executed him in. The Farhi brothers tried to punish the ungrateful ruler, but Abdullah was able to stay behind the walls of the city, which the brothers could not take. In 1831 Akko was conquered by the Egyptian army of Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Muhammad Ali. November 4, 1840 after the shelling of the city by the British-Franco-Austrian flotilla, he was returned to Turkey. In 1868, Baha'u'llah (Hussein-Ali-i-Nuri), the founder of the Baha'i religion, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the city of Acre. After construction railways Damascus - Beirut in 1896 and Haifa - Damascus in 1906 Acre lost its former strategic importance due to the rapid development of Haifa - the largest city and port of the Galilee.
Guns from the time of the Turks
British Mandate
Khan Al Faranji
Tomb of Bahá'u'lláh
House Museum of Baha'u'llah
Two kilometers north of Acre is a magnificent park, in the center of which is a small and beautiful house. Inside this house is the grave of Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i faith. This is the most sacred place for her followers. The house where Bahá'u'lláh lived until 1892 was built by Amid Turki in 1870. The building today is a museum of the Bahá'í Faith. The museum houses numerous original manuscripts, books about religion in many languages. A rich and very beautiful mausoleum was built over the tomb of Bahá'u'lláh.
The museum is open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday between 9:00 and 12:00 am.
Other Baha'i shrines in Akko include the house of Abboud, the house of Abdullah Pasha (both of which Bahá'u'lláh also lived for some time) and the "Garden of Eden", where Bahá'u'lláh spent the last part of his life. A place of pilgrimage for many Baha'is is also the fortress (the prison building in which Baha'u'llah was from 1868 to 1870).
Add here the status of one of the oldest cities in the world, the unique local flavor, proximity to Cote d'Azur Mediterranean Sea, and it becomes clear why Akko, among other cities, is chosen by thousands of tourists for their trip. Narrow streets, old markets, fishermen's shops and ancient fortresses. Rest here can be equated with a fascinating journey through time. With all this, the tourist infrastructure meets international standards, and the service is of a high level.
Akko: location and features
Akko is located in the northern district of Israel, in the western part of the Galilee. From the nearest big city, it is separated by 23 km. The population is multinational. Most of the inhabitants of Acre are Jews, among whom there are many people from the Caucasus and immigrants from. About a quarter of the population are Muslim Arabs, there are also Bedouin communities and very few Christian Arabs. Here you can hear speech in five languages: Arabic, English, Hebrew, Russian and French.
Akko is a city of Israel with a history of almost 4000 years. What has he not experienced in these millennia. AT different times Acre was conquered by the Phoenicians, Hittites, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, and British. Someone literally leveled the city to the ground, turning the great settlement into a rundown fishing village. Someone on the site of the ruins rebuilt fortresses and gave the city new names. Akko bore such names as Ptolemaida, Umma, Saint-Jean d'Acre.
The main reason for such attention from the outside is the place where Acre is located (proximity to strategically important sea routes, favorable climate and landscape). By the way, many prominent guests visited Akko at one time (King David, Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Pharaoh Thutmose III, Marco Polo).
At the beginning of the 20th century, UNESCO added the ancient city of Acre to the World Heritage List.
Attractions in Akko
Akko is the only city of knightly times that has almost completely preserved its medieval appearance to our times. In addition, there are a huge number of sights of the Ottoman period, religious monuments and unique natural sites.
You can often tell from the photographs in which city they were taken. It's completely different here. In one walk you will take such different photos in Akko that it will seem that you have made a big trip through several cities. Azure Mediterranean beaches, ancient fortresses and knightly underground tunnels, incredibly beautiful gardens of Eden and majestic places of worship. All this you will find here. To plan the best route to the sights of more interest to you, you can use tourist card Akko.
So, what can you see in Akko:
A separate attraction of Akko is the local bazaars. The most famous of them are the Turkish Bazaar and the White Market (Al-Abyad).
Hotels in Akko
A lot of tourists come to Akko, some swim in the sea, some enjoy fascinating excursions along the ancient streets. Therefore, in every part of the city there are several places where you can stay for the night: from cheap hostels to luxury hotels. The price for accommodation depends on the service and location of the hotel / apartment (on the sea coast and near the main attractions, it is naturally higher).
TOP Premium Accommodations in Acre:
Akko hotels of the middle price segment:
At a fairly affordable price, you can book the following options:
- Apartment Acre Two Wells Zimmer;
- Chalet Asbn Magic Garden;
- guest house Nzar Khoury for Hosting.
There are two hostels in Akko with a cozy modern atmosphere and all the necessary amenities: Akko Gate and Akko Knights.
Things to do?
Of course, every tourist who comes to the city will definitely visit the beaches of Akko. The sandy coast line stretches along the bay. The most famous and well-equipped beaches are Argaman (paid for foreign tourists, the entrance costs about 5 shekels) and "Tmarim" (belongs to the hotel, living elsewhere will also have to pay).
In addition to swimming in the sea, in Akko you can come up with a lot of exciting activities:
- travel through underground knight tunnels;
- shopping at local authentic bazaars;
- fiacre riding;
- visiting a Turkish hammam;
- Boat trip.
Several interesting Israeli museums are also located in Akko: okashi art museum, underground museum, ethnographical museum.
If you are lucky, you can get to the city's annual events: the olive festival, the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), the alternative theater festival.
Restaurants and gastronomic attractions of Akko
Ask any Israeli: "Where do they make the most delicious hummus?", And he will answer: "Akko." Here, this spicy pea paste can be tasted in any restaurant and cafe.
Akko is also famous for the extraordinary skill of local chefs in cooking fish dishes. For example, restaurant "Uri Buri" in Acre is known throughout Israel. Here you can taste the breathtaking crayfish neck soup, delicious anchovies and the freshest caviar, which is usually served here on slices of persimmon.
Most cafes and restaurants are located along the beaches and in the Old Town. Tourists like to visit the following places:
It is worth noting that in the restaurants of Akko, as in all of Israel, the portions are quite large. Prices can be called moderate, much lower than in Tel Aviv or Eilat.
Weather in Akko
As you know, the weather in Israel, including Akko, is favorable for recreation all year round. The climate in the Mediterranean is moderately warm. Summers are usually drier than winters. The hottest month in Acre is August (average temperature +27°C). It is coldest in January (+13°C).
The water warms up to +23°C in summer, its temperature rarely drops below +17°C even in winter.
How to get there?
Akko can be reached from major cities in Israel by several modes of transport:
- by bus from (ticket price - 8.5 shekels) or (ticket price - 16 shekels);
- by train from (ticket 41.5 shekels), (ticket 51.5 shekels), Haifa and Nahariya (prices are the same as for bus tickets);
- by car (you should keep to the highway number 4, which runs along the entire coast).
Distance to Akko from Tel Aviv - 98 km, from - 128 km.
The history of Akko is not typical for the ancient cities of this part of the Mediterranean (Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, Jaffa, etc.). Rapid growth and prosperity in the Roman era - then decline and oblivion - such a fate happily passed Acre. However, in order.
The city of Acre is located in the northern part of the Western Galilee on the Mediterranean coast. Highway number 4, starting at the northernmost border of Israel, runs along the modern and ancient part of Akko, clearly repeats all the bizarre bends of the sea coast and ends in the south, at Ashkelon.
The exact origin of the name Acre is unknown. One of the legends tells that the waters of the Flood stopped at the border of this city. "Until now" - the Hebrew sound of these words became the name of Akko.
The city is about 5 thousand years old. According to the history of such cities, one can study the history of the country: for example, the conquest of it by the Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty and renamed the city Ptolemais, and the Crusaders - Saint-Jean d'Acre.
The rulers of all known empires and kingdoms have been here. The presence of the crusaders in the city turned Akko into the capital of their kingdom.
This happened after their expulsion from Jerusalem. The military knightly orders of the Hospitallers, Templars, and later the Teutons acquired their own quarters here, which included residential buildings, warehouses, hospitals, churches and public buildings. Along with them, similar quarters were owned by the city-states of Italy: Genoa, Pisa, Venice. More than forty churches and 23 monasteries have grown in different parts of the city. Each of these strengthened themselves and contributed to the overall powerful fortifications of the city. Jewish sages moved here. Francis of Assisi founded a school of languages here. Prosperity is evident. This is evidenced by the currently being restored "knight's halls", city fortifications, a number of inner-city buildings.
And the more rapid was the force of the fall that came after the capture of Akko by the hater of Christians, the Mamluk sultan Baybars. Until 1750, Acre should be forgotten. Without bothering the reader with the names of the rulers, we will mention only one - Jazzar Pasha, whose name is dedicated to a number of buildings in the city, including the third largest mosque in the country. It was during his reign that Emperor Napoleon tried to capture the city and failed. The fortress survived and still stands to this day.
Like Jerusalem, Acre also has Old city where nothing has changed for at least a couple of centuries. As a matter of fact, everything about what was said above applies to him.
Old Akko - a unique city with historical objects of the era No city of this era has survived to this day in such a state and in such a state of preservation. In 2001, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee included Akko in the list of Outstanding World Heritage Sites.
But it's time to return to the present.
After the proclamation of the State of Israel (1948), modern building of the city began. Today Akko is the administrative center of the Western Galilee, it has branches and departments of ministries, public institutions and courts.
Like Jerusalem, the residential areas of the new Acre are located around the Old City. The new quarters are no different from those in any other city in Israel.
Today, fifty-one thousand people live in Acre, of which 24% are repatriates. The population is 50,000 people.
Average price of a 4-room apartment - $ 90.000
Arnona (1998) $5 to $8.
Green spaces - 2 hectares.
Educational institutions - 15 elementary schools. 4 high schools. Branch of the University of Haifa, College of the Western Galilee "Yad Nathan" - a branch of the University of Bar-Ilan. Maritime School. Conservatory.
Places of employment - Industrial zone. Food industry enterprises "Milwat", "Ti-vol", "Granot". Tourism
Residents - under 18 years -32%. Pensioners - 15%. Unemployment -10. 9%.
From the former USSR, 25% of Arabs are Israeli citizens, some of whom are Christians. And, pah-pah, there were no terrorist attacks in Akko, perhaps thanks to the large Arab community.
The port of Akko has completely lost its significance (due to the construction of the Haifa port) and now serves only local fishermen and owners of yachts, boats and boats. Acre has a developed metallurgy, textile and food industries. However, the problem of employment is acute in this city. Many Acre residents work in Haifa. Also a good option, since housing prices here are much lower than in Haifa.
And Akko is also known for the international festival "Non-traditional or alternative Theater" that takes place here annually during the Sukkot holiday, and during the Pesach holiday - the festival of vocal music "Echo of Voices".
Thanks to the large "Russian" community in the city, there are many "Russian" shops with the usual food and drink. Starting from dumplings and varenniks and ending with "Stolichnaya" and "Gorilka". And bookstores with books from Russia are also not superfluous here.
And 13 kilometers from Akko is Haifa with its University and Technion, its museums, its concert and theater halls.
And now let's go back to the Old City, but already modern.
Work on excavation of the historical treasures of Acre continues. So, recently a 200-meter Templar tunnel was opened, the entrance to which is located near the Old Lighthouse.
The Israeli Ministry of Tourism is investing, through the Acre Old Town Development Company, millions of dollars in the restoration of the old quarters. For many years, a program has been implemented to turn Akko into an international center for historical tourism.
And now smokes are rising over the Old City, emanating from braziers, falafel, endless cafes. Its entire territory is crossed by the main market. Here you can find everything: any food, nuts, spices, jewelry, amazing sea shells, clothes, anything and, of course, fish. In fish cafes and restaurants, they cook surprisingly tasty and relatively inexpensive.
And the pier - the fortress wall is one of the favorite places for walks of the townspeople. And do not pay attention to the contrast inherent in all places where Arabs live: the lickiness and cleanliness of the front face and the garbage that has been stored in the backyards for years.
Akko is what he is and, personally, that's exactly what I like.
The walled city of Akko is located in the north of the Haifa Bay and was once the leading port of the Mediterranean Sea on a par with Constantinople and. Like many other villages in the Holy Land, it has been occupied by various peoples over the centuries - from the Persians to the Romans. Traces of many of these cultures are still visible in Acre, which is second only to Jerusalem for the abundance of ancient sights in Israel. As a valuable historical monument, the city-fortress of Akko is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Myths and facts
According to the legend, once during the laying of the pavement, the bulldozer displaced the slab and the sand under it parted, opening up some kind of passage. Arriving archaeologists removed more tons of sand before a huge, magnificent crusader hall opened before them, with three massive columns in the center supporting a vaulted ceiling.
The once powerful port of Akko was part of the kingdom of Israel, incorporated into the empire of Alexander the Great after the conquest in 332 BC. Subsequently, Akko was captured by the Egyptian king Ptolemy II, who renamed it Ptolemais. This name was used until the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, when the former was restored. The confusion with the name of the city was intensified by the crusaders with the conquest of the fortress in 1104, after which ancient port became known as Saint-Gene d'Acco.
In 1291, the Mamluks destroyed the city and killed all the crusaders. Acre lost its military importance for the next 500 years. In the middle of the 18th century, the Bedouin sheikh Daher el-Omar made Akko his capital and built a large fortress here. His followers fortified the structure and added a number of mosques, including the el-Jazzar Mosque, one of the most beautiful in Israel.
Withstood the attack of Napoleon in 1799, who, after an unsuccessful attempt to take the city, was forced to retire to. Only in 1918 the British managed to occupy the fortress. used the strong walls as a high-security prison for Jewish underground groups.
Today, a memorial museum of the history of the fortress and prison has been opened in the dungeons of Akko.
What to watch
The ancient complex consists of an 18th-century inn where camel caravans stopped, delivering grain from the Galilee. The high clock tower was built later, in 1906, in honor of the Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid.
Opposite the mosque is the entrance to underground city crusaders. One of the most exciting rooms is undoubtedly the Knights' Hall of the Hospitallers of the Order of St. John, which today is used for concerts. One level below is another large hall, where the solemn ceremonies of the crusaders probably took place.
You can also look into the underground prison death cells, where the instruments of torture and the gallows, the hinge of which still hangs over the open trap door, have been preserved.
