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Walk in the Crusader Templars' footsteps! One of the top knight orders during the Crusades was the Templars. This covert passageway led from the Templars' main residence to the harbor of Akko. About 150 meters of the tunnel go beneath the city's residences.
THE TEMPLARS TUNNEL

A military-monastic organization known as the Templars assisted European pilgrims traveling to Israel’s holy places in the name of the pope.

They initially made their home on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, thus earning the nickname “the Templars,” or “the protectors of the Temple.” The Templars settled in Akko after Salah Al-invasion Din’s of Jerusalem in 1187 and started constructing their quarter in the southwest of the city.

The primary castle of the Templar order was constructed here, at the western end of the tunnel. The strongest fortress in the city, the Templar Fortress, was located mostly along the shore. It was a sturdy stronghold with two strong towers and walls that were 28 feet thick guarding the entrance.

The towers were surrounded by two smaller towers, each of which had a lion in gold on top (as described by a Templar who lived in Akko during the siege of 1291). The 150-meter-long tunnel connects the port of the city in the east with the Templars’ castle in the west. It runs through the Pisan neighborhood and was formerly used as a tactical tunnel linking the palace to the port.

 

 The tunnel’s upper section is built of hewn stones covered by a semi-barreled dome, while the lower section is cut out of natural stone. In 1994, the tunnel was found. The dirt was removed, and the tunnel is now open to tourists thanks to the Akko Development Company and the Antiquities Authority.

The western portion of the tunnel was made accessible to the general public in August 1999. The eastern portion of the tunnel was exposed and restored by the Akko Development Company from 1999 to 2007, and by that year, the public could access the whole length of the tunnel.

About this place

From the location of the former Templar citadel in the southwest of the Old City to the southeast, where it meets the sea, the Templar’s Tunnel extends beneath the Old City of Acre. The 350-meter tunnel was built in the 12th century as a secret conduit between the castle and the port that could be used for both rapid escapes and transferring cargo from the port to the stronghold. While the upper walls of the route were made of hewn stones that create the arched roof of the tunnel, the bottom portion of the corridor was tunneled through natural stone.

History of the Templars in Acre

Salah al-Din seized control of Jerusalem in 1187, and the Templars moved to Acre in 1192. They dug the tunnel to the sea as well as an 8.5m-thick stronghold. In Acre, the Templars stayed from 1192 to 1291. When the Crusaders were defeated by the Muslims in the Battle of Hattin (1187), Acre was taken, and the Christians fled.

The Hospitallers, a Christian order that was at Acre during the same time period and also possessed a substantial castle there, are sometimes mistaken with the Knight Templars. In 1312, the Templars and Hospitallers were both formally dissolved. Dahar al-Omar demolished the Templar castle in the 18th century and used the stones to construct the city walls.

The Templar Tunnel

In 1994, a flooded section of the tunnel was found. Since then, it has been dug up and made public. Visitors may now stroll through the Templars’ Tunnel on a wooden boardwalk while viewing projected graphics that depict the history of the order on the tunnel’s walls.

Nearby Places

Acre Old City Market
Underground Crusader City Acre
Turkish Hammam, Acre
The Ramchal Synagogue, Acre
Al-Jazzar Mosque, Acre
Acre Aqueduct
Acre Port

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