City Walls and Sea Gate

18th-century Ottoman fortifications that stopped Napoleon in his tracks

The land walls of Acre were strengthened by Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar in the 1790s, with the help of a French engineer and, crucially, British naval support. They proved their worth in 1799 when Napoleon's army besieged the city for 61 days before retreating to Egypt — one of the few setbacks of the Napoleonic Wars in the East.

You can walk much of the wall perimeter for free. The seawall is particularly rewarding at sunset: the old fishing harbour lies below, with the open Mediterranean to the west. The Tower of Flies sits on a breakwater just offshore — a medieval Crusader tower that once controlled the harbour entrance with chains stretched across the water to prevent enemy ships from entering.

things to do sight
A story
Napoleon's 1799 siege of Acre lasted 61 days and ended in the only major defeat of his Egyptian campaign. The key factor was British naval support: Sir Sidney Smith's ships intercepted the French artillery being sent by sea and turned it against the besiegers. Had Acre fallen, Napoleon later wrote on Saint Helena, he might have marched on Constantinople.