A couple of days ago we spent a few hours in Akko, a historic city a few miles north of Haifa.
Akko’s history is much too complex to hope to summarise in a few paragraphs. Suffice to say it is one of the most ancient cities even in this land, first settled some time around 3000BC. It has changed hands innumerable times: at various times it has been Canaanite, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman. I refer you to the extensive Wikipedia entry for a full introduction. It is most closely associated in my imagination with the history of the first three Crusades, when ‘Acre’ – as it has often been called – was fought over as a crucial strategic port.
There is more to see here than we were able to, during a brief stroll round the Old City, on a brilliant bright day. Here are some impressions.
Click the thumbnails to see the larger versions. The images are also available as a Flickr gallery.
