marissa

4-5-2025 🐟

Went to Akko today and felt like a crusader! Akko is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, at over 4,000 years old. It was a key Canaanite and Phoenician port, later conquered by the Greeks, Romans, and Crusaders, who made it their capital in the Holy Land. During the Crusader era, it was a fortified coastal city until it fell to the Mamluks in 1291. The Ottomans rebuilt Akko in the 18th century, and it became a vibrant trading hub under the rule of Ahmad al-Jazzar aka the butcher. Today, Akko is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its remarkably preserved Crusader and Ottoman architecture. Population wise it has both Jews and Arabs and is quite a mixed city.