The Ancient Port City of Acre (Haifa, Part 2)

Don here again... Following our visit to Haifa, we re-boarded our bus and went to the ancient seaport of Arce (also known as Akko) about twenty miles north along the coast. Acre is a very old and well-preserved city, dating back to Phoenician times, with many of the current structures dating back 900 years. As are the other old cities we have visited , it was a walled, fortified city with protective sea gates. On our way to the entrance of the walled old city, we heard one of the five daily calls to prayer from a Mosque's tower played over loud speakers. I made a recording of that. In Acre's history the fight between religions played an important roll. 

It is a working harbor

The entrance to the walled old city

This is a ramp that originally was used to move cannons to the top of the wall. Now it’s great fun to run down. Wonder if they know the history of the ramp?

The port of Akko reached its zenith during the conquest by the Crusaders but maintains elements of its Ottoman rule as well. Much of what we saw had to do with the business dealings of the Crusaders, including warehouses for goods below and apartments for the merchants above.

The Old City is mostly Muslim

As in the other old walled cities, the streets are very narrow, and vendors have their wares for sale, though these seemed more oriented to the locals. It must be interesting to have your streets and stores filled with a constant stream of tourists. The locals seemed almost oblivious.

 People live in the ancient buildings. I wonder what they look like inside.

The el-Jazzar Mosque was the largest Mosque built in Israel during the Ottoman period.

The old harbor area was being renovated and there were places we could not get to, such as the courtyard around the clock tower.

The tunnel got lower and lower and smaller toward the end.

This tunnel linked the port to the fortress. When threatened the people could find their way to safety though this tunnel carved out of rock. On one end were replicas of paintings showing the Crusaders and life in ancient Acre.

At the end of our tour we went to the roof of a hotel and looked out over the town. Sami caught this picture of the Mosque at sunset.

 And so we reached the end of the day.