AKKO - A Preserved Crusader City

The Old City of Akko has secrets above the ground as well as below. We found a perfectly preserved Crusader city being unearthed and brought back to life, located directly under the city built above it.

Inside the site were walls and fortresses, knights' halls, churches, synagogues, and mosques - all reminders of the city's conquerors and religions - from the Canaanites, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Turks, and the British. 

Crusader steps

These steps were wide and uneven - they were made for horses to run up them.

Fleur de Lis

This is where the fleur de lis originated. It means "flower" in French.

Fleur de lis

The Fleur de lis can be seen at the bottom of this column.

El-Jazzar Mosque

This mosque is the second largest in Israel. No one in our group wanted to pay the fee to walk up the steps to take a photo.

Mosque ticket booth

The mosque no one wanted to see.

Marketplace

This marketplace looked much like the ones you can find in Jerusalem.