23km (14 miles) N of Haifa, 56km (37 miles) W of Tiberias. Akko (also Acre or Acco), with its romantic minarets, massive city seawalls, and palm trees framed against the sky, has had a long, eventful history. It was first mentioned in the chronicles of Pharaoh Thutmose III, about 3,500 years ago. It was a leading Phoenician port, and although it was allotted to the tribe of Asher, the tribe was never able to conquer it. The town is mentioned as part of David's kingdom, and was given by Solomon to Hiram, king of Tyre, in return for his help in building the temple. Alexander the Great conquered Acre in 332 B.C., and later, in 280 B.C., it was captured by the Ptolemies, and renamed Ptolemais. Under this name it is mentioned in the New Testament as a stopping place of Saint Paul. Julius Caesar stayed here in 48 B.C. From the time of Acre's allocation to the tribe of Asher, Jews lived here in relative peace with the other local inhabitants, but during the Bar Kochba revolt many Jews were killed by the Romans. Even so, remnants of the Jewish population continued to live here. When the Arabs conquered Ptolemais in A.D. 636, the town reverted to the name of Acre, and it was known by that name until the Crusaders took the town in 1104 and renamed it Saint Jean d'Acre. The town became the regional seat of Crusader government, and it expanded to include an entire underground city, which you still can visit today. Except for one 4-year period, the Crusaders held Acre
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