Discover the mysteries of the Jewish heritage.
This center presents and highlights the Jewish heritage in Akko throughout the centuries. The archeologists believe there was a shopping street just here!!
The Ramchal Synagogue is an old structure from the Ottoman period. The Ramchal was a famous Rabbi who came from Italy to Akko.
The Ramchal Visitors Center in Old Akko focuses on two stories: the dramatic life story of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal) and the unknown story of the Jewish community in Akko, during the Crusader rule in the 12th and 13th centuries.
The sites are adjacent to each other. Located in the heart of the old city within a residential neighborhood. The Visitors Center spaces are well-kept and not very large. The tour of the sites is combined with films, exhibits and impressive archeological finds.
The Ramchal Synagogue
The Ramchal Synagogue is an Ottoman building built next to a 13th-century street in the Crusader Genoese district.
The space of the synagogue is dedicated to the environment of the activity and the life of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal), who was born in the city of Padua in Italy (1707-1746).
Ramchal was one of the most complex and influential figures in the Jewish world in modern times, most of his life he lived and worked in Italy and was at the center of a pan-European Jewish controversy. He was highly admired by the Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Kook and Chaim Nachman Bialik, who saw themselves as his successors. His authored his famous book “Mesilat Yasharim” and today his character crosses borders and his writings are studied among different audiences at the various universities.
A video of the Tractate of Ramchal’s life is shown in the synagogue, and letters in his handwriting and signature are displayed on the walls of the synagogue.
The new center for Jewish heritage in Old Akko
Old Akko has a glorious Jewish heritage. The Golden Age of the Jews was during the Crusader Kingdom in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Surprisingly and in contrast to the extermination and expulsion of the Jewish communities in Europe, a vibrant Jewish community is developing in the large commercial center of the Crusader kingdom in the city of Akko. The community began in a wave of immigration from the beginning of the 13th century and continued with an influx of Jewish immigrants from Europe (France, England, Germany and Spain), Asia and Africa (Egypt, Syria, North Africa). These joined the nucleus of the Jewish community in the country.
The space of the new visitor center displays personalities and events that took place in Akko and those that reflect the work and hardships of the Jewish communities in Europe.
Impressive archeological finds
During the preparatory work, archeological finds were discovered in the “Visitor Center” space, which exposed the northern border of the Genoese Quarter. Investigators believe the site exposed was a covered shopping street, which ran along the border of the Genoese Quarter with the Hospitaller Quarter. The findings also indicate the struggle for control that took place in the city between the Genoese and the Venetians in Akko during the ‘St Sabas War’.
The findings are exposed to visitors in the Center.