The old city of Akko goes way the heck back, but the most interesting part is the "city below", an underground fortress built around 1190 by the Knights Templar. The underground world included a headquarters for the Knights and the monastic military order called the Hospitallers, who cared for the sick in the holy land. There are several large halls that housed the hospital, dining hall, prison, storerooms, etc. Finally, the Templar Tunnel connects the fortress with the port and is large enough to accommodate knights on horseback. We think, though, that the knights and the horses might have been smaller in those days.
Akko itself was a divided city with three ports, one for the Venetians, one for the Pisans, and one for the Genoans. Of course, all sorts of others wandered through over the years including Canaanites, Romans, Crusaders, Turks, and British.
The next day we were off to Jerusalem's Old City. We started out with a view of the Dome of the Rock and the Garden of Gethsemane from Mount Olive:
Then through town to see the Church of the Holy Sepulcher:
The Bazaar:
The Via Dolorosa, Station 5 of the Cross:
And the Western, or Wailing, Wall. At the wall, one is invited to approach to pray or write a wish or tribute on a piece of paper and slip it into a space in the wall. One thing we noticed: there are only a few men on their side of the wall, but lots of women on the lady's side. Maybe women have more wishes than men? You're not supposed to photograph the Wall...but we snuck a couple of snapshots.
Overall, we'd recommend a visit to Israel. There's so much more to see in Jerusalem, more to do in Akko, and Haifa is a pretty nice place. Onward to Cyprus!
