A fortress that survived a thousand days of war and thousands of years of empires and conquest is coming back to life. After an investment of 15 million shekels ($4.5 million), 22 powerful video-art projectors and 10 kilometers of fiber-optic cable have been installed in the inner courtyard of the Crusader fortress in Old Acre.
This weekend, the ancient complex will launch a new immersive show aimed at bringing travelers back to northern Israel and giving badly needed oxygen to local businesses hit hard over the past two and a half years.
The new nighttime spectacle in Acre's Crusader fortress
(Video: Yair Kraus)
The new attraction is a roughly 35-minute video-mapping show, with images projected onto the historic stone structures of the Knights’ Halls. The visual content was created by French company COSMOAV, which also took part in the renewed opening show for Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Without words, using a universal visual language and original music, the show traces Acre’s history from the Hellenistic and Roman periods, through its days as the capital of the Crusader Kingdom, to the British Mandate and the establishment of the State of Israel.
(Photo: Yair Kraus)
In line with practices at historical sites across Europe, the project has been made fully accessible, including special features for people with hearing impairments and audio description for blind visitors, in cooperation with the library for the blind.
The immediate goal of the project is to revive Acre’s nightlife, encourage visitors to stay after sunset, strengthen existing businesses that have suffered from a steep drop in foot traffic and attract new investment to the Old City.
(Photo: Yair Kraus)
(Photo: Yair Kraus)
“Before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, more than one million visitors came to Acre each year, and we are working to restore the city to its former standing as one of Israel’s leading tourism destinations,” Yuval Porat, CEO of the Old Acre Development Company, told ynet.
“Acre is one of the most unique cities in the world, a living, breathing ancient city, with an active market, a port, enormous history and daily life taking place inside an international heritage site,” he said.
Admission to the Knights’ Halls, including the new show, costs 59 shekels ($18) per person.