Acre (Akko)

It was our 2nd weekend in Dan Panorama, Haifa, Israel. It was a saturday and saturday meaning Shabbat. Not many options for outings since most places do not serve cooked food or let me put it as we have the choice of going out to only not Kosher certified restaurants. During his 7 or 8 eights business trips to Israel, my husband had once been to Akko with his other colleagues. So, Akko ? Why not ? "Lama lo ?"

The old city of Acre, 25 km north of Haifa is predominantly an Arabic town whereas the new parts of the city is all Jewish. It is the Crusader's town and entry is free. Charges are only to view/go through the Templar's tunnel and the Knight's Citadels and Museum. Acre or Akko also boasts of a huge wall around the old city because of which Alexander the great could not conquer the  place. It is a small, picturesque beautiful little place that we used to frequently visit from Haifa. Reasons being, it is so close, a refreshing walk along the beach and on the wall, the noisy-smelly Turkish market that gave us a feel of India ;-), the beautiful sun setting in the Mediterranean, the view of the Carmel mountains & Haifa from Akko etc,.

Yes, Akko is a Heritage site listed on UNESCO

The pictures below will do the rest of the talking. The old city can be accessed from 3 different points, 1. From the huge wall through a monstrous iron gate, 2. From the light house side, along the beach 3. From the Turkish bazaar side. There may be more ways, but these are the ones we have been through and have managed some hassle free parking all the time.The pictures will take you through the old city starting from the big wall to the light house end.

The huge wall from the Akkotel hotel side

In spring the wall is painted green and yellow with fresh yellow blossoms. There are some old canons and mortars on the wall and beside the wall, we can spot the moat which is almost dry. The wall is approx 80 feet wide and now we know why Alexandar could not enter the city.

View of the wall from the other side

As we walk away from the wall and via the Museum, we are taken through the Turkish bazaar. Many many sweet stalls and falafels and spices welcome you all the way. Forget not the stinky fishy market.

a spice shop

After the noisy market area is the quiet and clean prayer surroundings. The mosque in Akko is said to be the second largest and sacred in Israel after the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

We pass through the Templar's tunnel and get a closer look of the clock tower in Akko. The clocktower has numbers written on 4 sides in 4 different languages - English, Arabic, Roman and Hebrew. Its built on top of an old couryard and stable.

Akko clock tower

As we walk through the streets of Akko, we get the real ancient feeling but people live there like a modern day constructed house with air conditioners, all electric and proper plumber facilities.. I always have the jittery feeling of when the wall is going to let loose those stones which are centuries old.

There is an entrance to the left of the wall that again takes you to ontop of the wall. A row of restaurants and amazing view of the sea greets you with open arms for ever.

Restaurants below and on the wall,

Some enjoy a boat ride on a beautiful day

The wall extends to a good old greek style church, the St John's church over looking the Mediterranean. There's a small area covered with glass by the church which enables us to see through, the grottos that are underneath.

The wall culminates at the ancient Light house of Akko. As we walk down the wall here, we enter the promenade along the Akko beach.

There is so much history associated with Akko/Acre that I dont remember any of it now but interested folks can always look up wiki or google :-).