Citadel of Acre

The Hospitaller commandery of Saint-Jean-d'Acre is a monumental complex founded by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, also known as the Knights Hospitallers. It is located in the city of Saint-Jean-d'Acre (now Acre in Israel). In the 13th century, the commandery became the headquarters of the Order until the fall of the city in 1291.

From the first years of the establishment of the Crusaders in the city, the Hospitallers received donated properties. In 1110, King Baldwin I granted the Knights Hospitaller permission to keep the constructions located north of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. In the years 1130, the buildings were damaged during works near the church and the Hospitallers decided to move near the 12th century north wall of the city. This is the actual place of the commandery.

In 1149, the first testimony of the commandery is in a document concerning the construction of the Saint-Jean church. In 1169, a pilgrim described the commandery of the Hospitallers of Acre as a very impressive fortified building.

After the defeat of Hattin in 1187, Saladin took the city. In 1191, during the third Crusade, the Frankish reconquered Acre after its siege. The Hospitallers moved back in their buildings. Jerusalem is no longer in the hands of the crusaders. And so the commandery becomes the new headquarters of the order. A new construction campaign took place between the end of 12th century and 13th century with new wings and additional floors.

The central courtyard covers an area of about 1,200 m2 and is enclosed by a series of arcades. On the east side, a staircase leads to the upper levels. Near the north side lies a well about 4.5 m deep with two shallow pools nearby, while the south side contains another well and a 1.5 m-deep pool.

The north wing runs along the northern wall and consists of ten vaulted chambers, each about ten meters high, dating from the Frankish period. Its exterior wall, 3.5 m thick, reflects the defensive character of the structure. Two rooms were later added to the west. Windows in the south wall overlook a narrow passage and the wall of the pillar room, while the main entrance lies in the south side wall. Beneath the structure runs a vaulted drainage channel, approximately 1 m wide and 1.8 m high, which once connected to the harbor.

Text adapted from “Hospitaller commandery of Saint-Jean-d'Acre” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Citadel of Acre ranks #3,353 of 8,131 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #14 of the 25 mapped in Israel. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,021 times in the last 60 days, more than 67% of the atlas. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Haifa, 13 km away. It is one of the 113 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Levant. It is stop 5 of 7 on the Crusader castles of the Levant, the Syrian coast to southern Jordan. See how Israel compares in the castle statistics.

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