Shawarda Khan
Acre, Israel
The square building of khan al-Shawarda (from Arabic: merchants) encloses a spacious courtyard with a fountain at its center and faces the bay of Acre. The courtyard is flanked by a cross-vaulted arcade, its arches resting on tall stone piers. Cross-vaulted rooms behind the arcade were used as warehouses, while a second floor in the south wing was built to accommodate merchants and travelers.

The two-story high tower in the southeast corner of the khan was built during the Crusader period and was refortified by Dhahir al-Umar in the 18th century and known as burj al-Sultan. Dhahir al-Umar also built the eastern wing of the structure as an integral part of the wall of Acre. The building was transformed into a square khan by al-Jazzar pasha toward the end of the 18th century. In 1935 the municipality of Acre demolished the eastern edge of the southern wing, including the original steps leading to the second floor, to make way for a new road to cross the khan from north to south.


Sources:

Dichter, Bernhard. 2000. Akko-Sites from the Turkish Period. Haifa: University of Haifa. P.80-84

Petersen, Andrew. 2001. A Gazetteer of Buildings in Muslim Palestine: Part 1.Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 86-87
Location
Northeast part of Old Acre, facing the bay of Acre, Acre, Israel
Images & Videos
Associated Names
Events
18th c.
Style Periods
1299-1922
Variant Names
Khan al-Shawarda
Variant
Khan al-Djenein (in the Cadalvene and Barraut map of 1832)
Variant
Building Usages
commercial