Acre's Crusader Fortress Revitalized with High-Tech Nightly Video Show

The Crusader fortress in Acre, Israel, which has withstood a millennium of wars and centuries of empires, has been revitalized with a cutting-edge nighttime video art installation. A 15 million shekel investment recently equipped the fortress's inner courtyard with 22 powerful video-art projectors and 10 kilometers of optical fiber. The new 35-minute video mapping show will officially launch this weekend, aiming to attract visitors back to northern Israel and revive local businesses severely impacted over the past two and a half years.

The visual content was created by the French company COSMOAV, known for its work on the renewed opening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The show uses a universal visual language and original music, without words, to depict Acre’s rich history from the Hellenistic and Roman periods, through the Crusader kingdom era, to the British Mandate and the founding of the State of Israel. The project is fully accessible, including special accommodations for the hearing impaired and audio descriptions for the visually impaired, in cooperation with the Library for the Blind.

The immediate goal of the project is to enliven Acre’s nightlife, encouraging visitors to stay after sunset, thereby supporting existing businesses suffering from low foot traffic and attracting new investments to the Old City. Yuval Porat, CEO of the Acre Old City Development Company, told ynet that before the COVID-19 pandemic, Acre welcomed over one million visitors annually. He emphasized Acre’s uniqueness as a living ancient city with an active market, port, and daily life within a UNESCO World Heritage site. Admission to the Knights’ Fortress, including the video show, costs 59 shekels per person.