Khan al-Shawarda (خان الشواردة), also known as Khan al-Tujjar, is one of the merchant inns built during Acre’s eighteenth-century revival as a fortified…
Khan al-Shawarda (خان الشواردة), also known as Khan al-Tujjar, is one of the merchant inns built during Acre’s eighteenth-century revival as a fortified Palestinian port. A khan provided traders with space for merchandise, animals and accommodation. Khan al-Shawarda served this commercial network alongside Acre’s other surviving inns: Khan al-Umdan, Khan al-Franj and Khan al-Shuna. Acre’s return as a trading city The khan belongs to the rebuilding of Acre under Ottoman rule, when Zahir al-Umar al-Zaydani established the city as the centre of his authority in northern Palestine. Acre’s port handled cotton, grain, olive oil and other goods moving between the Palestinian interior and Mediterranean markets. Warehouses, markets and khans became essential parts of the revived city. Accounts of Acre associate Khan al-Shawarda with Zahir al-Umar, while an archaeological report places its construction during the rule of Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar, who governed from 1775 to 1804 and continued the city’s development. The building is arranged around an open square courtyard, with the remains of a sabil, a public water facility, at its centre. The khan within the fortified city Khan al-Shawarda stands in the northeastern part of Acre’s Old City. Burj al-Sultan, a tower incorporated into this part of the city’s defences, is connected with the khan complex. During the British Mandate, openings were cut through its northern and southern sides to create a road towards the harbour. The Old City of Acre was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2001 for its surviving Ottoman fortified town, including its walls, mosques, baths and merchant khans, together with substantial medieval structures above and below the present streets.