Acre, ISRAEL

Akka (Acre) is a city in the northern region of Israel, bordering the south on the northern shores of the Gulf of Acre and the Mediterranean Sea. In 2016 there were about 48,000 residents in the city, about two-thirds of them Jews. Acre is one of the oldest port cities in the world, and its documented history dates back to the Early Bronze Age. For many years it was a key city for the conquest of the Land of Israel, since its location on the wide coastal strip made it easy to reach the Galilee through the interior. She knew ups and downs and passed from hand to hand many times. Acre reached its peak when it served as the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 13th century and as the capital of Ahmad al-Jazzar at the end of the 18th century. Since the 19th century, the importance of the city has decreased, compared to Haifa, which became the main port city of the north of the country. Accordingly, the city's development was slower than that of Haifa. In 2001, Old Acre was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. [7] Seven years later, in 2008, the Bahá'í holy places in Haifa and the Western Galilee were declared an additional World Heritage Site, and some of them, including the most sacred place of the Bahá'í Faith - Located in Acre and its environs, is the only site in Israel that appears on two different UNESCO World Heritage sites. In 2012, the promenade was renovated between the Old City and the new city and the "Barcelona Square" opened at the entrance to the Old City and in honor of the declaration of Acre and the city of Barcelona as "Twin Cities".