Сomplex of underground halls, which was built and used by the Knights Hospitaller, Acre, Israel.

© Altosvic/Shutterstock

Knights' Halls

Top choice in Akko


Akko's crowning attractions are the stone-vaulted Knights' Halls. Wandering these echoing chambers gives captivating insights into the medieval knights who once patrolled, dined and prayed here. An audio guide (included in the ticket price) evokes the sounds and smells of life in the citadel, built 800 years ago by the Hospitallers (a monastic military order). The Beautiful Hall, where pilgrims en route to the Holy Land were welcomed, is most impressively preserved.

Elsewhere, 13th-century tombs are displayed in the crypt of St John's Church, and graffiti of Christian symbols, left by pilgrims, is still visible at the intersection of two excavated main streets.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Akko attractions

1. Okashi Art Museum

0.03 MILES

Within the history-steeped walls of the Citadel, this moderately interesting art gallery is devoted to the works of Avshalom Okashi (1916–80), an…

2. Underground Prisoners Museum

0.06 MILES

Dedicated to Jewish armed resistance during the British Mandate, this museum occupies a massive structure built by the Turks in the late 18th century on…

3. Al Jazzar Mosque

0.06 MILES

The graceful silhouette of the green-domed Al Jazzar Mosque, with its slender, 124-stair minaret, dominates the northern end of Akko's old city. Al Jazzar…

4. Hammam Al Pasha

0.07 MILES

Built in 1780 by Al Jazzar and in use until the 1940s, this richly ornamented marble and tile hammam now plays host to a 30-minute multimedia show about…

5. Souq Al Abiad

0.1 MILES

The original Ottoman-era market on this spot was burned down within a year of being built; local legends blame a careless hookah smoker for the blaze. The…

6. Khan Ash Shawarda

0.16 MILES

This broad, square former caravanserai, built over a Crusader-era convent in the 18th century, has been beautifully restored and now shelters a number of…

7. City Walls

0.17 MILES

Fortified, wrecked and refortified by Muslims, Crusaders and Mamluks, old Akko is encircled by a sea wall to the west, south and southeast, and by…

8. St George's Church

0.17 MILES

This Greek Orthodox Church dates from the early Ottoman period, though it was built on an earlier Crusader church. Entering the courtyard, immediately on…