אולמות האבירים

Knights Halls - Subterranean Crusader City - The Hospitallers Compound


Useful Information

Location: Weizman st.1, Acre.
About 40 minutes bus ride from Haifa. Northern part of the Old City, opposite the El-Jazzar Pasha Mosque.
(32.9232271, 35.0697701)
Open: APR to 14-OCT Mon-Thu 9:30-17:30, Fri 9:30-16, Sun, Hol Eve 9:30-17:30.
15-OCT to MAR Mon-Thu 9:30-17, Fri 9:30-16, Sun, Hol Eve 9:30-17.
Last entry 1 h before closing.
[2024]
Fee: Combo Ticket: Adults ILS 49.
[2024]
Classification: SubterraneaCasemate SubterraneaCellar
Light: LightIncandescent
Dimension: Ar=4,500m²
Guided tours: self guided
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:
Address: Old Acre Visitors Center, Enchanted Garden, Acre, Tel: 1-700-70-80-20, Fax: +972-4-9813651.
Old Akko Development Company 1 Weizmann St., Akko, Tel: +972-4-9956706, Tel: +972-4-9956707. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1110 King Baldwin I allows the Templars to own buildings north of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross which they received as donations.
1135 when the Cathedral is expanded northward, some of the order’s buildings are damaged.
12th century members of the Templar Order began building their quarter.
2001 inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Description

This site was listed on showcaves.com with a review by Tony Oldham more than 20 years ago. At this time it was known as Subterranean Crusader City, alternatively as Hospitallers Compound. However, the actual name is now the אולמות האבירים (Knights Halls), and it is located inside the מצודת עכו (Citadel of Acre). The Hospitallers were a military monastic order caring for the sick pilgrims in the Holy Land. They managed hospitals in Jerusalem and in Akko. The first was built north of the Cathedral after King Baldwin I allowed them to own buildings in 1110. But when they were damaged by the expansion of the Cathedral, they decided to build a new hospital in the northwestern section of the city, right at the northern city wall. The new Hospitaller Center was first documented in 1149. In 1187 Akko fell into Moslem hands and its Christian inhabitants fled. It was reconquered in 1191 by Richard the Lionhearted, the King of England. The Hospitallers were granted new concessions by Guy de Lusignan and Henry of Champagne, and so they expanded their center in Akko. This was necessary as Jerusalem was not reconquered, and their former headquarters were lost. The construction process took many years, and new wings as well as additional floors were added to the old center.

Opposite the El-Jazzar Pasha Mosque is the entrance to the Subterranean Crusader City. The area was the headquarters of the Knights Hospitallers, and what was their street level is now eight meters below the ground.

Some of the huge columns in the entrance halls, are engraved with French fleur-de-lys, others with Turkish decorations. This leads to another hall, which once held a wine press, after which you enter the courtyard where the 30 metre high citadel walls dominate.

Going through the large Turkish gates to the left leads to the Knight's Halls. Turn right from here into the centre of the Crusader complex. In the ceiling is the cemented over tunnel dug by Jewish prisoners in the British prison above.

Concerts occasionally take place in the halls and the annual Akko Underground Theatre Festival is staged here.

Going back through the courtyard you come to the Grand Meneir, the centre of the Crusader government. A narrow passage leads to the Knight's Dining Hall, also called The Refectory or Crypt of St John. Next to the crypt's third column is a stairway leading to a long underground passage. It is not known what its original purpose was, but el-Jazzar planned to use it as an escape route if Napoleon captured the city. Following this passage you come to the rooms and courtyard of the Crusaders' Domus Infirmorum, or hospital. The Turks used the area as a post office so it is known as Al-Bosta.


Text by Tony Oldham (2004). With kind permission.