Akko - Reference Center

Columbia Encyclopedia entry: Akko

Akkoăk'ō or Acreā'kər, ä'–, Fr. Saint-Jean d'Acre, Arab. Acca, city (1994 pop. 45,300), NW Israel, a port on the Bay of Haifa (an arm of the Mediterranean Sea). Its manufactures include iron and steel, chemicals, and textiles. The city was captured (A.D. 638) by the Arabs, who developed its natural harbor. In 1104 it was captured in the First Crusade and was held by Christians until 1187, when it was taken by Saladin. In the Third Crusade it was won back (1191) by Guy of Lusignan, Richard I of England, and Philip II of France, who gave it to the Knights Hospitalers (the Knights of St. John, hence its French name). For the next century it was the center of the Christian possessions in the Holy Land. Its surrender and virtual destruction by the Saracens in 1291 marked the decline of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Crusades. Akko was taken by the Ottoman Turks in 1517 and was revived in the late 18th cent. under Dahir al-Umar, the local Ottoman ruler. In 1799, Ottoman forces, with the aid of Great Britain, withstood a 61-day siege by Napoleon I. The city was taken in 1832 by Ibrahim Pasha for Muhammad Ali of Egypt, but European and Ottoman forces won it back for the Ottoman Empire in 1840. British troops captured the city in 1918. Akko was assigned to the Arabs in the 1948 partition of Palestine, but it was captured by Israeli forces in the Arab-Israeli war of that year. By the 1990s its population was about three fourths Jewish and one fourth Arab. The city is a popular tourist site. Landmarks include an ancient citadel, walled fortifications, the al-Jazzar mosque, and several churches dating from the Crusades.

Wikipedia search results for: Acre, Israel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Acre (redirected from Akko) also Akko, is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel. It is situated on a low promontory at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Acre had a population of 46,000 at the end of 2007. Historically Acre has been regarded as the key to the Levant due to its strategic coastal location. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in Israel. The name Aak, which appears on the tribute-lists of Thutmose III, may be a reference to Acre. The Amarna letters also mention a place named Akka. In the Bible,, Akko is one of the places from which the Israelites...more »

Columbia Encyclopedia search results: Akko

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Ptolemaïs, ancient cities, Asia and Africa
Ptolemaïs, ancient name given to several cities to honor members of the dynasty of the Ptolemies. One of these later became known as Akko, in modern Israel. Another was one of the great Hellen...
Flor, Roger de
Flor, Roger de, d. c.1306, German commander of Spanish mercenaries, b. Italy. He entered the order of the Knights Templars and fought (1291) at Acre (see Akko, but he was obliged to leave the ...
Conrad, Latin king of Jerusalem
Conrad, d. 1192, Latin king of Jerusalem (1192), marquis of Montferrat, a leading figure in the Third Crusade (see Crusades). He saved Tyre from the Saracens and became (1187) its lord. In 118...
Guy of Lusignan
Guy of Lusignan, d. 1194, Latin king of Jerusalem (1186–92) and Cyprus (1192–94), second husband of Sibylla, sister of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem. In 1183 he was briefly regent for his broth...
Jerusalem, Latin Kingdom of
Jerusalem, Latin Kingdom of, feudal state created by leaders of the First Crusade (see Crusades) in the areas they had wrested from the Muslims in Syria and Palestine. In 1099, after their cap...
Philip II, king of France
Philip II or Philip Augustus, 1165–1223, king of France (1180–1223), son of Louis VII. During his reign the royal domains were more than doubled, and the royal power was consolidated at the ex...
Saladin
Saladin, Arabic Salah ad-Din, 1137?–1193, Muslim warrior and Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, the great opponent of the Crusaders, b. Mesopotamia, of Kurdish descent. He lived for 10 years in Damascus...
Palestine, region, Asia
Palestine, historic region on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, at various times comprising parts of modern Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, and Egypt; also known as the Holy ...
Crusades
Crusades, series of wars undertaken by European Christians between the 11th and 14th cent. to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims. In the 7th cent., Jerusalem was taken by the caliph Umar....

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