Akko - Crusader City

Opposite the Ahmed el-Jazzar Mosque in Akko is the entrance to the massive complex of buildings occupied by the Knights of St John, the "Crusader city", which now lies underground. It was buried under a great mound of earth on which Ahmed el-Jazzar built his Citadel. Much of the complex was excavated between 1955 and 1964. In the northern part were found seven rooms, presumably belonging to the seven "tongues" (national groups) of which the order of St John was composed. One of them is now used as a concert hall. These rooms and a very large hall (perhaps the dormitory) have been only partly excavated in order to avoid endangering the stability of the Citadel built over them. One part of the complex which has been completely exposed is the refectory, often erroneously called the crypt, because before the excavations it was entered by descending from a window at street level. It is a large rectangular hall with groined vaulting borne on three massive round piers.