Acre, Israel
The city of
Acre [Modern spellings::Hebrew עַכּוֹ:Standard Hebrew ʻAkko:Tiberian Hebrew ʻAkkô: ‘Akká:Spoken word:Other spellings and historical names of the city include Accho, Acco, and formerly Aak, Ake, Akre, Akke, Ocina, Antiochia Ptolemais (Greek: Αντιόχεια της Πτολεμαΐδος), Antiochenes, Ptolemais Antiochenes, Ptolemais or Ptolemaïs, Colonia Claudii Cæsaris, and St.-Jean d'Acre] is in Western
Galilee in the
North District,
Israel.
According to the
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), at the end of 2003 the city had a total population of 45,600.It stands on a low promontory at the northern extremity of the
Bay of Acre, 152 kilometers (95 miles) N.N.W. from
Jerusalem.
It was long regarded as the "Key of
Palestine," on account of its commanding position on the shore of the broad coastal plain that joins the inland plain of
Esdraelon, and so affords the easiest entrance to the interior of the country.
 |
The harbour at Acre in 2005 |
The old city of Acre has been designated by
UNESCO as a
World Heritage Site and contains, among other sites, a tunnel leading to a
13th century fortress of the
Knights Templar.
Since the
1990s, there are vast works of archeological excavations and preservations of ancient structures in progress. The works are carried out by the
Old Acre Development Company (OADC).
The walls
The first notable thing which comes to sight when coming to Acre is the heavy land
defense wall, built north and east to the city. This wall was built in 1800-1814 by
Jezzar Pasha (called by the locals
Al-Jezzar) and his Jewish advisor
Haim Farkhi. This is a modern
counter artillery fortification which includes a thick
defensive wall, a dry
moat,
cannons' outposts and three
Burges (large defensive
towers).
In 1750,
Daher El-Omar, the ruler of Acre, utilized the remnants of the
Crusader walls as a foundation for his walls. They were reinforced between 1775 and 1799 by
Jezzar Pasha and survived
Napoleon's siege. The wall was thin, its height was 10-13 metres and its thickness was only 1 metre.
The sea wall, which remained mostly complete, is the original El-Omar's wall that was reinforced by al-Jezzar. However, the land wall which survived Napoleon's siege was replaced in 1800 with a modern wall by al-Jezzar.
The Great Mosque
The Al Jezzar
mosque was built by
Jezzar Pasha (d. 1804) from materials taken from
Caesarea Palaestina: his tomb is within.
Hamam is a hot
Turkish bath. Acre's Hamam is notable mainly because it was used by the
Irgun as bridge to break into the citadel's prison.
The citadel
The current building which consists the citadel of Acre is an
Ottoman forification, built on the foundation of the
Hospitallerian citadel. The citadel was part of the city's defensive formation, reinforcing the northern wall.
During the 20th century the citadel was used mainly as
prison and a
gallows. During the
British mandate period, activists of Jewish Zionist resistance movements were held prisoner there; some were executed there. In 1947, members of the
Irgun broke into the citadel and released many prisoners.
Today, the citadel of Acre contains the following:
* The Ottoman fortifications (including the tower and the moat).
* Acre Old City Visitor Centers.
* The "enchanted garden": a new garden that is planted according to historical description of the garden that was there during the
Crusades period.
* Acre's British prison and the gallows.
* Memorial for Jewish resistance fighters, executed by the British mandate.
* A Museum for the Jewish resistance prisoners, מוזיאון אסירי "מחתרות .
* Prison cell of
Bahá'u'lláh, Founder of the
Bahá'í Faith.
* Knights' Halls (see below).
As of August 2004, the citadel is partly closed, due to preservation works.
The Knights' Halls
Under the
citadel and prison of Acre,
archeological excavations revealed a complex of halls, which was built and used by the
Hospitallers Knights. This complex was a part of the Hospitallers'
citadel, which was combined in the northern
wall of Acre.
The complex includes:
* Six semi-joint halls.
* One large hall, recently excavated.
* Dungeon.
* Dining room (with a tunnel).
* Posta and Crypta (remains of an ancient Gothic church).
Bahá'í holy places
|
The corner of the shrine where Bahá'u'lláh is buried. |
There are many
Bahá'í holy places in and around Acre. They originate from
Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment
in the Citadel during Ottoman Rule. The final years of Bahá'u'lláh's life were spent in the
Mansion of Bahjí, just outside Acre, even though he was still formally a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire.
Bahá'u'lláh died on
May 29 1892 in Bahji, and his
shrine is the most holy place for Bahá'ís " their
Qiblih, the location that Bahá'ís should face when saying their daily obligatory prayers. It contains the remains of Bahá'u'lláh and is near the spot where he died in the Mansion of Bahji.
Other Bahá'í holy places in Acre include the
House of `Abbúd and the
House of `Abdu'lláh Páshá where Bahá'u'lláh resided in, and the
Garden of Ridván where Bahá'u'lláh enjoyed spending the later part of his life.
Few towns have had a more chequered or calamitous history. Of great antiquity, Acre is probably to be identified with the Aak of the tribute-lists of
Thutmoses III (c. 1500 B.C.), and it is certainly the Akka of the
Amarna letters. To the
Hebrews it was known as Acre (Revised Version spelling), but it is mentioned only once in the
Old Testament, namely
Judges 1:31, as one of the places from which the Israelites did not drive out the
Canaanite inhabitants. Theoretically it was in the territory of the tribe of
Asher, and
Josephus assigns it by name to the district of one of
Solomon's provincial governors. Throughout the period of Hebrew domination, however, its political connections were always with
Syria rather than with the
Philistines: thus, about
725 BC it joined
Sidon and
Tyre in a revolt against
Shalmaneser V. It had a stormy experience during the three centuries preceding the
Christian era.
The Greek and Roman periods
The
Greek historians name it Ake (Josephus calls it also Akre); but the name was changed to Antiochia Ptolemais shortly after
Alexander the Great's conquest, and then to Ptolemais, probably by
Ptolemy Soter, after the partition of the kingdom of
Alexander the Great.
http://www.bibleplaces.com/acco.htmStrabo refers to the city as once a rendezvous for the
Persians in their expeditions against
Egypt. About
165 BC Simon Maccabaeus defeated the Syrians in many battles in
Galilee, and drove them into Ptolemais. About
153 BC Alexander Balas, son of
Antiochus Epiphanes, contesting the Syrian crown with
Demetrius, seized the city, which opened its gates to him. Demetrius offered many bribes to the
Maccabees to obtain
Jewish support against his rival, including the revenues of Ptolemais for the benefit of the
Temple in Jerusalem, but in vain.
Jonathan threw in his lot with Alexander, and in
150 BC he was received by him with great honour inPtolemais. Some years later, however, Tryphon, an officer of the Syrians, who had grown suspicious of the Maccabees, enticed Jonathan into Ptolemais and there treacherously took him prisoner.
The city was also assaulted and captured by
Alexander Jannaeus, by
Cleopatra VII of Egypt and by
Tigranes II of Armenia. Here
Herod built a
gymnasium, and here the Jews met
Petronius, sent to set up statues of the emperor in the
Temple, and persuaded him to turn back.
St Paul spent a day in Ptolemais (Acts 21:7). A Roman
colonia was established at the city, Colonia Claudii Cæsaris.
http://www.ancientlibrary.com/gazetteer/0006.htmlArab rule and the Crusades
The
Arabs captured the city in AD 638, and held it until they lost it to the
crusaders in 1104. The latter made the town their chief port in Palestine. It was re-taken by
Saladin in 1187, besieged by
Guy of Lusignan in 1189 at the
Siege of Acre, and again captured by
Richard the Lionheart in 1191. It then became the capital of the remnant of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem. In 1229 it was placed under the control of the
Knights Hospitaller (whence came one of its alternative names). It was the final stronghold of the Crusader state, and fell to
a bloody siege to the
Mameluks in 1291. The
Ottomans under Sultan
Selim I captured the city in 1517, after which it fell into almost total decay.
Maundrell in 1697 found it a complete ruin, save for a khan occupied by some French merchants, a
mosque and a few poorcottages.
Ottoman rule
Towards the end of the 18th century it revived under the rule of
Daher El-Omar, the local sheikh: his successor,
Jezzar Pasha, governor of
Damascus, improved and fortified it, but by heavy imposts secured for himself all the benefits derived from his improvements. About 1780 Jezzar peremptorily banished the French trading colony, in spite of protests from the French government, and refused to receive a consul.
In 1799
Napoleon, in pursuance of his scheme for raising a Syrian rebellion against Turkish domination, appeared before Acre, but after a siege of two months (March--May) was repulsed by the Turks, aided by Sir
Sidney Smith and a force of British sailors. Having lost his siege cannons to Smith,
Napoleon attempted to lay siege to the walled city defended by Ottoman troops on 20 March 1799, using only his infantry and small-caliber cannons, a strategy which failed, leading to his retreat two months later on
May 21.
Jezzar was succeeded on his death by his son
Suleiman, under whose milder rule the town advanced in prosperity till 1831, when
Ibrahim Pasha besieged and reduced the town and destroyed its buildings. On
November 4,
1840 it was bombarded by the allied British,
Austrian and French squadrons, and in the following year restored to Turkish rule.
The British Mandate
The
citadel of Acre was used by the British as a
prison and a
gallows, mainly for political prisoners. Jewish underground movement activists, such as
Zeev Jabotinsky and
Shlomo Ben-Yosef (
Irgun activist) were jailed in the citadel-prison of Acre. Ben-Yosef was the first Jew to be executed by the British mandate.
On
May 4,
1947, the
Irgun broke into the Acre citadel prison in order to release Jewish activist imprisoned there by the British. Some 255 inmates, the majority of which were Arabs escaped [
1]. Of these 27 were from the armed groups (20 from the
Irgun and 7 from
Lehi) escaped. 9 were killed and 5 attackers and 8 escapees were captured in the immediate aftermath of the raid.
Despite the heavy toll in human lives, the action was described by foreign journalists as "the greatest jail break in history." The London
Ha'aretz correspondent wrote on
May 5::"The attack on Acre jail has been seen here as a serious blow to British prestige... Military circles described the attack as a strategic masterpiece." The
New York Herald Tribune wrote that the underground had carried out "an ambitious mission, their most challenging so far, in perfect fashion."Of the captured attackers, 3 who had been captured carrying weapons were tried and sentenced to death, the other two who had been unarmed when captured where proven to be minors and received
life sentences.[
2]
Israeli rule
Acre fell under territory assigned by the
1947 UN Partition Plan to a future Arab State in Palestine. The plan was rejected by the Palestinian Arabs and the town was capture by the Jewish
Haganah on
May 17,
1948, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. About three-fourths of its Arab population (1944 est. pop. 13,000) fled from the city during this time.
* Modern city outside of the Old City walls. See:
Akko (modern city).
*
Archeological reservation works and excavations. See:
Old Acre Development Company.
Bus
Acre has a central bus station that is served by
Egged buses. Services include fairly modest internal service and relatively extensive inter-city service. Due to its strategic location, Acre central bus station has bus links to major cities and towns as
Haifa,
Nahariya,
Karmiel,
Zefat,
Kiryat Shmona,
Sakhnin, as well as lines connecting it to nearby smaller villages.
Rail
Akko (Acre) is served by the
Akko Railway Station*
Palestine*
Crusade*
District of Acre*
Daher El-Omar*
Ahmed al-Jazzar, also known as
Jezzar Pasha *
Haim Farkhi*
Napoleon*
Old City of Acre - The Official Website (
Old Acre Development Company - OADC )
*
Acre's History (Jewish Virtual Library)
*
The Acre prison break (Jewish Virtual Library)
*
Names by which Acre has been known & pictures (Bibleplaces.com)
*
Hazlitt's Classical Gazetteer*
Acre Walls (OADC)
*
The Tourists Guide to Acre
