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Acre, Akko, Acco (continued)
The Ottoman Turks took Akko in 1517 and with the help of the British withstood a 61-day siege by Napoleon in 1799. British troops captured the city in 1918 and assigned it to the Arabs in the 1948 partition of Palestine.
Akko is one of the
most dramatic and captivating of Israel's cities. Within its walls are labyrinthine
networks of alleys and streets filled with life.
A walk along the
walls offers a spectacular view of Mount Carmel and Haifa, Galilee and the old city. The
citadel museum of heroism, built on top of the crusader foundations, commemorates the
Jewish freedom fighters imprisoned by the British. Layers of diverse cultures peer through
the ancient walls of a subterranean complex, which was excavated in the 1950'S. The city is more than 4,000 years old. During biblical times the city was under Canaanite control. It is mentioned in ancient Egyptian scrolls from around 1800 BC. The city assumed great importance on the trade route between Egypt and Syria.
e-mail: mikeclay@virtualtravels.com ©mikeclay.com, 2000, 2001©rememberme.com, 2000, 2001
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Israeli
forces in the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 captured Acre. By the 1990s its population was
about three fourths Jewish and one fourth Arab. The city is a popular tourist site.
Landmarks include an ancient citadel, walled fortifications, the al-Jazzar mosque, and
several churches dating from the Crusades.
