Crusader Akko was destroyed by the victorious Arab armies in 1291 and what can be seen today is largely an 18th-century Turkish town built on the site of the old. The heavy defensive walls  are rebuildings of the original Crusader walls, fragments of which are still discernible. The tight, warren-like street pattern within the walls is interrupted by three great khans, or merchants’ inns: the Khan el-Umdan  (Khan of the Columns) with its distinctive clocktower; the Khan el-Faranj  (Khan of the Franks or Foreigners); and the Khan el-Shohada  (Khan of the Martyrs). While the khans date from the Ottoman era they echo the fact that in Crusader times Akko had autonomous quarters given over to the merchants of Italy and Provence. Such was the rivalry between these colonies that at one point open warfare erupted between the Venetians and Genoese, who fought a sea battle off Akko in 1256. The khans are no longer in commercial use but Akko does have a lively souk , selling fruit and vegetables and household items – no tourist knick-knacks here. You’ll also find plenty of fresh fish, which you can see being brought ashore at the town’s picturesque harbour early each morning.

Akko lay semi-derelict for more than 400 years after its destruction in 1291. Its rebirth came with the rule of the emir Dahr el-Amr and his successor, Ahmed Pasha el-Jazzar (“the Butcher”), both of whom governed the city for the Ottomans in the second half of the 18th century. El-Jazzar, in particular, was a prolific builder. Among his legacy is the attractive Turkish-style mosque (built 1781) that bears his name and continues to dominate the old town skyline. Its courtyard contains recycled columns from the Roman ruins of Caesarea and, at the centre, a small, elegant fountain used for ritual ablutions. Inside the mosque are the sarcophagi of El-Jazzar and his son, while underneath (and accessed from the courtyard cloisters) are the remains of a Crusader church that El-Jazzar had transformed into a cistern to collect rainwater.

When the Ottoman governors rebuilt Akko they did so on top of the ruins of the Crusader city. The Crusader-era street level lies some 8 m (25 ft) below that of today. Part of it has been excavated revealing a subterranean wealth of well-preserved examples of 12th- and 13th-century streets and buildings. There are some amazingly grand Gothic knights’ halls, each belonging to one of the nations represented in the crusading Order of the Knights Hospitallers: Auvergne, England, France, Germany, Provence and Spain. From the halls, a narrow passage leads to a large refectory with huge columns; in two corners you can still see carved lilies that may indicate building work done in the period of Louis VII of France, who arrived at Akko in 1148. One of Akko’s other well-known visitors was Marco Polo and it is quite possible that he dined in this very room. Below the refectory is a network of underground passageways that lead to an area known as El-Bosta (from the Arabic for “post office”, which is what the Turks used this space for); divided by columns into six sections, it was probably the Crusaders’ infirmary.

Akko’s Citadel was built by the Turks in the 18th century on top of Crusader foundations. During the British Mandate it served as a prison for Jewish activists and political prisoners, some of whom were executed in the gallows room. These events are commemorated in the Citadel’s Museum of Underground Prisoners .

This is not a museum as such, but a Turkish bathhouse dating to 1780 and the rule of El-Jazzar (hence the alternative name of Hammam el-Pasha, meaning “Bathhouse of the Governor”). It was in use until as recently as the 1940s and remains in an excellent state of repair. The floors and walls are composed of panels of different coloured marble, and the fountain in the “cold room” (where patrons would relax after bathing) retains most of its beautiful majolica decoration.