A Visit to Acre

The influence of the Crusaders accounts for only 5 per cent of the long history of the walled port of Akko, now known as Acre, and yet that influence in many ways remains dominant. Walking in this old city is like stepping back into the Middle Ages, when the knights who came to save the holy places from infidels were celebrating their glorious victories.

The city dates at least to about 1800 BCE, when it is mentioned in an Egyptian text. It is located at the junction of a river and a major trade route leading across the Galilee and on into Syria and Mesopotamia. It was always a principal port city, but in the fourth century BCE rivaled Tyre and Sidon to the north in importance. After Alexander the Great took control of the region and the city in 332 BCE, it took on a Hellenistic ambience and was renamed Ake.

After Alexander’s death, the city fell into the hands of the Egyptians, and was then known as Ptolemais until its conquest by the Arabs in 636 CE. When King Herod built Caesarea in 10 BCE, the old city just to the north declined. And leading Christians in Caesarea kept that port central for the trade both east and west, until its artificial harbor was so filled with silt that it declined.

Under Arab rule for four centuries, Akko was preeminent on the western coast of the Mediterranean Sea. After the European Crusaders came in 1104, the character of the city was radically altered. The maritime powers in the Mediterranean were the city-states of Genoa, Pisa, Venice, and Amalfi, and each of these small "nations" renovated and maintained its own quarter in the port city. In addition, the military order of the Hospitallers (Templars) had its own territory and provided facilities for pilgrims traveling to and from Jerusalem.

Akko survived as the major stronghold of the Latin Kingdom in the holy land until Saladin defeated the Crusaders in 1187. The city surrendered without a fight, but was taken back by the Crusaders in 1191 when Richard the Lion-Heart of England and Philip of France arrived. For a hundred years after Jerusalem was in Muslim hands, Akko remained as the Latin Kingdom and a Crusader outpost.

The military-monastic order known as the Templars, because they had been guards on Temple Mount during the Crusade reign in Jerusalem, built their quarter in the southwest part of Akko during the second half of the twelfth century. On behalf of the pope, the Templars cared for pilgrims and patients, who came to visit the holy sites. The Templar fortress in Akko was the strongest fortification in the city, with walls 28 feet think, and two towers protecting its entrance.

In Akko, the Templars changed their name to the Hospitallers, for their role now was not guarding the site of the ancient temple in Jerusalem, but providing hospitality in Akko. They discovered an ancient tunnel under the city, hewn out of the natural stone, and improved it, allowing them a protected passage between their fortress in the western part of the city and the port to the east. The tunnel is now cleared of debris for a short distance, but in the twelfth century continued for a length of 350 meters (longer than three football fields).

The Hospitallers also built seven halls for knights, one for each nation with members in their order (Auvergne, England, France, Germany, Italy, Provence, and Spain). These vast halls are now largely under the Muslim city that was built on top of them, but several of the halls have been cleared of rubble and are being restored.

Disputes among the European trading factions in the city led to open warfare between the fortified quarters. Venice and Genoa fought a sea battle off the coast of Akko in 1259, even though the city was threatened by the Mongols, and a second sea battle in 1265, when Mamluks from Egypt were outside the city walls.

In 1285 Henry II of Cyprus claimed the crown of Akko, but in 1291 the Mamluk Muslims took the port. The city was devastated and lay in ruins for four and a half centuries, until a local Arab sheikh, Daher al-Omar, took advantage of the weakness of the centralized Ottoman empire and asserted his control over Galilee, with Akko as its port for goods from Syria. He ruled from 1749 to 1775, when the Albanian soldier of fortune, Ahmed Pasha, took over.

Known as al-Jazzar, which means "the Butcher," because of his renowned cruelty, Ahmed Pasha continued the restoration of the city and its fortifications. In 1799 the British fleet assisted him in defending the city against a siege by Napoleon, which lasted sixty days. Napoleon had conquered Egypt and had sought to take Akko in order to open a trade route to India.

In 1832 Ibrahim Pasha, with the support of an Egyptian army, took back Akko from the Turks, and this Pasha ruled Palestine and Syria from Akko until 1840, when British troops forced him to withdraw to Egypt. The walls of the city were then repaired, and Akko resumed its place as the main port for exporting grain from Galilee and the southern Golan.

Mosques and a fine Turkish bath remind visitors of the long period when Akko was largely Muslim. But Crusader elements of the city were never removed, and today a mixture of the two motifs can be found throughout the city. Several churches survive in Acre today as well.

During the time of the British Mandate, when Jews were fighting for control of the area, hundreds of members of the Haganah, Etzel, and Lehi underground movements were imprisoned in Acre, along with both Arab and Jewish political prisoners. The fortifications in the city were also used for detainees, who had immigrated without proper permission.

On May 4, 1947 Lehi fighters raided Acre prison and released 41 of their comrades, who were being held there. In the battle that followed between the British police and armed forces and the raiders, nine of the invading party were killed and eleven recaptured and again imprisoned. Today in the Acre fortress there is a memorial for these early Israeli martyrs, as well as for all the Jews executed by the British in the prison.

The military history of Acre is now only history. Walking through the city, the marketplace reminded me of Jerusalem, with its narrow stone alleys and densely packed shops. But the open vistas outside the city facing the Mediterranean offer a calmer and more meditative experience. As I sat facing the Sea and watched the sun set into its waters, I wondered about the generations of peoples who had come to this city from so many places throughout the past four millennia.

I am writing as a participant in the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel, which is sponsored by the World Council of Churches. The views expressed above are my own and do not necessarily represent the World Council of Churches. If you wish to publish or disseminate this letter beyond personal friends, please contact the EAPPI Communications Officer (eappi-co@jrol.com) for permission to do so. Thank you.

Bob Traer, 10 April 2005

For other Letters from Jerusalem, go to http://christian-bible.com/Ethics/lj.letters.2005.htm.

For photos from Acre (Akko), which is just north of Haifa, go to http://christian-bible.com/Ethics/photos.acre.htm. 

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1 in Faith: A Christian Bible Study † Copyright © 2000 by Robert Traer