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 Acre (Acco)  189 pictures
 10 minutes HQ video Acco's placement, on a port near the sea, and on one of the main roads in the country, made it an important city in the northern part of Israel. Acco began as an ancient hill, somewhat far from the coast, called Tel Fukhar (also known as Napoleon Hill). Acre  The settlement on the hill existed until the end of the Iron Age. During Persian times, and particularly during the Hellenistic times, the settlement grew and extended from the hill to the west, to the shore. King Ptolemi II (the beginning of the third century B. C.) gave the town its great standing and name it after him (Ptolemi). It then became the main port city of Israel. The traces of the Hellenistic town are buried under the Old City and the New City, and therefore only a few traces may be actually found. With the help of the Genoa navy, and the cost of a major part of the town and its incomes, the Crusaders managed to occupy Acco in 1104 A. D. Acco's port, the most excellent of the Israeli coast, made it a major town in the Crusader kingdom.    Following the third Crusade mission, when Acco was again taken from Muslim hands, and following the failure of the Crusaders to renew their rule in Jerusalem Acco became the capital of the new Crusader kingdom in 1191 A. D. Acco remained standing in its ruins for more than two hundred years. It was only at the beginning of the Ottoman Empire in Israel that the town was revived. Strong local rulers settled there, and built the town, among whom were Druze Fakher A Din (18th century A. D.), Taher Al Omar (the middle of the 18th. century) and Ahmed Al Jazar (the end of the 18th century). The last major event in the town's life during Old Times was its withstanding against the blockade put by Napoleon in 1799. The skyline and outline of Acco in present days, consist of late architectural components, mostly from the Ottoman Empire, including the great mosque named after Jazar Fakha, the various motels, and most of the fortifications. Yet inside the Old City there are impressive architectural traces of Crusader Acco. These are mostly found in the dungeons of the castle, and around it, north of the Old City. The range of these buildings becomes more evident due to the extensive excavations that have been held in the site over the past few years. The fortress and the underground rooms     The solitary rooms from the British mandate     Back to Israel Index
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