Akko

Akko, Israel

Low-angle view of Akko's honey-coloured stone sea walls at golden hour with wet rocks in the foreground and turquoise water.

Akko is a walled harbour town on Israel's coast, where Crusader halls, Ottoman khans and a fishing port sit within a short walk of one another.

The place

Akko, known in English as Acre, sits on a natural harbour at the northern end of Haifa Bay on Israel's Mediterranean coast. Its Hebrew name is Akko and its Arabic name is Akka, and older English maps usually write Acre. The population is around 49,000 and the town lies only about 10 metres above sea level, so it feels more like a harbour town than a large city. The Old City occupies a low promontory with the sea on two sides, while the newer town spreads out to the east and north.

The bay gives the place its importance. Ships have long found shelter here, and the coastal road meets the route inland into the Jezreel Valley at this point. That location explains why the town has kept returning to life after sieges and destruction.

Most visitors spend their time inside the Old City. Its streets are narrow, rise and fall, and hold Crusader-era halls, caravanserais built for overland traders, and an Ottoman-era bathhouse close together. The main sights are compact enough to walk in an afternoon, so an unhurried pace suits the place best.

The waterfront is the easiest part to enjoy. Fishing boats tie up beside the old harbour, and in the evening the sea wall fills with families and diners watching the light fade over the bay. Summer afternoons are hot and humid, and the stone holds warmth long after sunset, so the early and late hours are the most comfortable.

Its story

Akko sits on the upper edge of a broad bay, and Mount Carmel shuts the bay off on its southern side. Akko offers the top natural harbour along Phoenicia's southern shore and can be reached without difficulty from the Jezreel Valley, which explains why rival kingdoms and empires kept sending fleets to vie for it. For much of its history it served as the main port for the wider southern Levant.

The early town stood on a mound known today as Tel Akko, or Tell al-Fukhar in Arabic, which means something like the mound of clay sherds. In antiquity the site was a small peninsula right beside the mouth of the Na'aman river. The first settlement there was short-lived, perhaps undone when the Mediterranean spread across the surrounding farmland. A larger town was built on the same ground later in the Bronze Age, and it has been lived in ever since. Egyptian execration texts name one of its eighteenth-century-BCE rulers, a detail that anchors the town in written record.

The Crusader period brought the city its most dramatic chapter. As a sea foothold it became the centre of a long siege at the close of the twelfth century, and it stayed a Crusader stronghold until the final assault that ended Frankish rule in the Holy Land. The Mamluks then tore down much of the city, and for generations it was little more than a fishing village. The local ruler Daher al-Umar rebuilt it into a regional port and fortified its walls, and the Ottoman governors who followed added the bathhouse and khans that still shape the Old City today.

What to see

Culture

Akko is a mixed city, with Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities whose customs shape daily life. The Old City has mosques, churches and a synagogue within a few minutes' walk, and many local businesses slow down or close around Shabbat, from Friday afternoon into Saturday evening. Friday prayer time can make the main lanes busier and noisier around midday. Shops and cafés are generally relaxed about visitors, and haggling is common in the markets, though it is friendlier to be good-humoured than pushy. Older residents often appreciate a greeting in Hebrew or Arabic before a request. Photographing people in the markets is best done after a friendly exchange, and never of worshippers during services. Dress modestly, with shoulders and knees covered, when you step inside any mosque, church or synagogue, and keep your voice low near prayer halls.

What to wear

Akko's traditional dress is best understood through the Palestinian and Levantine textile traditions that the city shares with its neighbours. Women's festive dress was typically long, embroidered and cut from cotton or silk, with tatreez cross-stitch patterns along the neckline, sleeves and hem. Each village had its own colours and motifs, and the embroidery often signalled family and region. Men's dress in the past centred on loose trousers, a long shirt and a headcloth, with the keffiyeh and its wool or cotton weaves still widely worn. Today the people of Akko dress much as city residents across Israel do, with jeans, t-shirts and sneakers for everyday wear, and more formal clothing for weddings and religious occasions. For a visitor, the climate is the main consideration. Summers are hot and humid, so breathable cotton and linen work well, plus a hat and sunglasses. Religious sites ask for covered shoulders and knees, and a light scarf is useful for women entering mosques. Good walking shoes matter more than anything else, because the Old City's stone paving is uneven and polished smooth in places.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. March and November suit a visit best, when the days are warm rather than hot and the rain is light. Summers are hot and humid on the coast, and the winter months are mild and wetter, in keeping with the Mediterranean climate.

How long. 2–3

Getting there. Akko is on the main Israeli railway line, directly north of Haifa. Trains run frequently from Haifa and Tel Aviv, and some continue to Tel Aviv's airport, though the journey takes a couple of hours. The station is a short bus ride or a walk from the Old City, and buses from Haifa are slower than the train.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources