Remains of ancient city found in Galilee

Extensive remains of a thousand year old subterranean city have been discovered by Israeli archaeologists in Galilee.

Starting this week, tourists will be able to tread the underground streets of Acre, last walked by Christian Crusaders nearly 800 years ago.

The city of Acre is one of the oldest inhabited sites in the Holy Land.

Now archaeologists have revealed the remains of another ancient subterranean city, built by the Crusaders nearly a thousand years ago, and buried intact beneath the present day town.

For the first time, visitors can walk the streets last used by inhabitants of the Crusader town nearly 800 years ago.

The city of Acre, which is less than an acre in size, became a fractious cosmopolitan center home to different orders of fighting monks, European factions, rival merchants, and small populations of Jews and Muslims.

Fought over and built over by successive waves of invaders, the Ottoman Turks built a new city in 1750 on the ruins of the Crusader buildings.

That effectively preserved a complete city - like the Pompeii of Roman times, according to archaeologist Eliezer Stern, who is in charge of the site.

Eliezer Stern, archeologist, said, "After 15 years of digging we understand that we have the whole city of the Crusaders of Acco (Hebrew) "Acre". That means alleys, churches, public houses, private houses, everything here is preserved completely beneath the Ottoman city. A site like this I cannot remember and I don't know if there's any in the world, completely."

The archaeological work continues at Acre, long recognized as one of the world's great archaeological treasures and a World Heritage Site.