The Crusader Hospitaller Quarter and Fortress in Acre (Acco)
The Crusader Hospitaller Quarter is one of the most important sites in Acco and is a good place to start your visit to Acco. It has a number of other names such as the Citadel, Akko Fortress and Knights' Halls - but they are all the same place. It will definitely engage your interest, especially via the colorful displays projected on the walls. A combined ticket for the Hospitaller Quarter and other sites is available from the Visitors Center in the Enchanted Garden and this is a good place to begin your visit to Acco. We also describe a walk through Acco starting from the Enchanted Garden on a separate webpage.
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Directions and parking: Start your visit at the Visitors Center in the Enchanted Garden. Enter into Waze “Knights Hall” and click on “Knights Hall, Old Akko.” Free parking is available at Hafir (moat) Parking lot. Eucalyptus Parking lot is also free Sunday to Thursday, and has paid parking Friday and Saturday. Parking is 20 ILS for a full day at the Abirim Parking lot. There are also other parking areas in the city.
Admission: Hours for the Hospitaller Quarter and Fortress and Visitors Center are Sunday to Thursday and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m., and Friday and holiday eves 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Last entrance is 1 hour before closing. In winter, the site closes 1 hour earlier. If you are not with a guided tour, an audio guide is helpful and is available in a number of languages.
The central courtyard of the Hospitaller Quarter
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Visual display on the walls of the Hospitaller refectory
The refectory in the Crusader quarters
Many of the displays take this form. but the information is shortened on the audio guide.
Why were the Hospitaller’s fortress and quarters so magnificent?
The Crusaders captured Acre during the First Crusade in 1104 CE under the command of King Baldwin I. Acre provided them a foothold into the country and it rapidly became the main Crusader stronghold for the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Christian kingdom centered around Jerusalem. Other states formed by the Crusaders were the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch and the Country of Tripoli. Because of its harbor, Acre became a crucial maritime hub for supplies from Europe. By 1170 it had become the main port of the Eastern Mediterranean and was providing the Kingdom of Jerusalem with considerable wealth, particularly from the Asiatic spice trade. However, the good times did not last. In 1187 the Ayyubid sultan Saladin decisively defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin at Karnei Hittin (see our webpage on Karnei Hittin). This was the end of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, since most of the Crusader knights were either killed or captured. Acre capitulated without a fight.
However, Acre remained in Muslim hands for only 4 years. It was captured In 1191 after a 2-year siege by King Richard I of England and King Philip II of France during a Third Crusade. (The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was a failed attempt to reclaim the County of Edessa). The Crusaders were unable to reestablish the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but they succeeded in establishing a powerful Crusader state along the coast extending from Tyre to Ashkelon, and this lasted for 100 years.
The Crusaders were volunteers who served in the Crusader army for only a limited period of time. A foreign kingdom in hostile territory could not be maintained by volunteers alone and a number of monastic military orders were established for its defense. Two of the most influential were the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller. The Hospitallers cared for the sick and provided for the safety of pilgrims in the Holy Land. They also established fortresses throughout the kingdom to protect the pilgrims.
The fortress and fortified quarters of the Knights Hospitaller were revealed fortuitously when digging under the Ottoman pavements. The magnificence of their center is very apparent. The reason for this was because it was a rich order in a thriving Crusader kingdom. The Hospitallers were especially active in the sugar trade and growing sugar cane.
The Hospitallers moved from their original quarters to the place you are now visiting - in the northwestern part of the city and adjacent to its then northern wall. Following the loss of Jerusalem and their main headquarters, the Hospitallers expanded their center in Acre to the street adjacent to the city wall. Their center consisted of two or three storied wings around a central courtyard. The upper stories no longer exist as they were destroyed by Muslim armies, but the ground levels have been revealed. The Hospitallers also built a church south of the compound named after St. John. It was one of the most magnificent and largest churches in the Crusader Kingdom.
The Hospitaller Quarter lasted 100 years until the conquest of the city by the Muslim Mamluks in 1291. As they did to other Crusader coastal cities, the Mamluks left Acre desolate. In the main, Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land (who were still permitted) now arrived through the port of Jaffa.