Urban Landscape Development in Twelfth-Century Acre

摘要

Twelfth-century Acre was considerably larger than its Muslim predecessor and its port was much busier than the early-Muslim city's harbour. The majority of the city's population lived in the area of the pre-Frankish city. It was, likewise, the venue of a royal residence, a cathedral, and some religious orders. The peninsula, until then a rather large and mostly vacant area, had been settled by the quarters of the Italian cities and the military orders. The monarchs of Jerusalem handed over vast properties in the peninsula to the Italians, the military orders, and ecclesiastical institutions during the twelfth century, and in all probability concentrated their efforts elsewhere. The fact that many thirteenth-century transactions occurred in an area that this article considers as the old district, emphasised royal preferences. The kings began to grant lands in the old district only after the peninsula -was entirely occupied. Consequently, in the twelfth century the port's quay was close to the eastern pier, where it had been located during the early-Muslim period. It was easily accessible from the nearby main land gate and the funda Regis. Moreover, it was more accessible for ships than was the southern breakwater and resolved some essential traffic issues which might have existed if the quay had been located near the southern breakwater.