Acre

Acre was a coastal city located to the east of the Mediterranean Sea.

High Middle Ages
In the year 1190, the city was under siege by the Templars, who planned to poison its water supply and wipe out the city's entire population. Altaïr was able to stop this plot by killing the Templar commander in charge of the siege. Even though the city was saved from Templars this time, it was nevertheless eventually taken by them.

In the year 1191, the city had been recently recaptured by the forces of Richard the Lionheart from the Saracen army, which formerly occupied it. The city served as the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem during this period.

It was in this city that the Christian Crusaders had established a base of operations, in order to stockpile weapons and troops. With this, they intended to march south towards Jaffa, and from there launch an all out siege upon their true target, Jerusalem, which they had come from Europe to reclaim in the name of their religious faith.

Renaissance
In 1511, the Grand Master of the Assassin Order, Ezio Auditore da Firenze stayed in Acre en route to Masyaf, and was warned by the people of the city that the road to Masyaf was crawling with bandits and "foreign mercenaries". Ezio assumed the worst, that this was another pocket of Templars, and expressed this concern in a letter written to his sister Claudia.

Poor District
Due to the recent siege, the Poor District was still recovering from the numerous people killed.

Dead bodies covered in blood line the streets, alleys and the main gate into Acre. The people also fight off disease, despair, oppression, corruption, and the memories of those lost.

The haunting stench of death constantly plagues the air. This entire district falls under the jurisdiction of the Knights Hospitalier, given to them by King Richard, and they govern from their fortress located at the north end of the district.

Middle District
The Middle District was more lively, in terms of both citizens and military presence. The area was under the jurisdiction of the Knights Teutonic, given to them by King Richard.

In Acre's Middle District, there was a large port, whose docks possessed many troublemakers and drunken sailors. In the Chain District of Acre, there is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, which concealed a Templar in the incomplete spire, and is the tallest point within the virtual world.

The paranoid Sibrand keeps an extremely sharp, yet clouded eye (result of paranoia) over the district. Rumors had reached him that the Assassins had come to take his life, and this had driven him to fortify the entire area. He even went to the extent once to kill a harmless scholar he accuses of being an Assassin.

Rich District
As King Richard the Lionheart fights Saladin and his Saracen forces, the duty of governing the entire city falls to the regent and liege-lord, William of Montferrat. The Chain District is where he holds his power, and it is the district suffering the most under his rule. Much of the population complains about their ill treatment, while others plot his downfall. It is these actions that draw the Assassins once more to the city.

Within the beautiful Rich District are notable landmarks such as King Richard's Citadel, within which is William's Quarters, a small fortress within a fortress. The citadel's interior contains mass numbers of guards and archers (more than any other place in the game besides Arsuf), and operates like a small town within itself.

Sail to Cyprus
After Altaïr discovered that the Templars were sailing to Cyprus, he decided to take the fight to them. His first step was to infiltrate the Templar harbor fortress somewhere in Acre, where the Templar ships were preparing for the voyage. Altaïr, along with some fellow Assassins, successfully entered the fortress and killed all of the Templars. He intended to interrogate the fortress commander, who was revealed to be Maria. He captured her and took her to Cyprus with him.

Assassination Targets in Acre
In Acre, Altaïr was ordered to assassinate the following people:

Search for the Chalice

 * A Templar Captain in charge of the siege.

The Hunt for the Nine

 * Garnier de Naplouse, a corrupt surgeon, the second target in Altaïr's Hunt for the Nine and the tenth Grand Master of the Knights Hospitalier. He enjoyed experimenting on his patients and removed himself from the world around him for his sadistic fantasies - as told by Al Mualim. In contrary, Garnier told Altaïr in his last breaths that he saved his patients from the streets and brothels, that they were once madmen, but are now his children. He told Altaïr that with his death, Garnier's patients would be madmen once more, that he did not believe that he helped them, but that he knew that he did.


 * William of Montferrat, the regent of Acre who vigorously trained his soldiers in preparation for the "New World," and despite his position, retained a core hatred for King Richard. He was also the fifth target of Altaïr, located in his personal quarters, the King's Citadel, in the rich district. The moments before his death, he was angered by Altaïr's ignorant beliefs, thinking that the Templar stole the city and its goods for only himself and his son Conrad, while instead he saved them up for the time of the New World, to distribute them evenly to Acre's citizens. He told Altaïr that he had damned his people rather than saved them, and that he had only himself to blame.


 * Sibrand, Master of the Knights Teutonic who occupied the Port Area of Acre in a fearful attempt to escape the Assassins' rumored approach, his decisions were clouded by his paranoid judgement. He was located in the middle district, on a boat guarded by his soldiers. In his agony, he thought one of the priests was an Assassin, not believing his pleas for mercy and only turning them against the innocent man, whom he killed before returning to his boat to leave. Altaïr, who witnessed the Templar's murder, followed his target and let him have his last conversation after assassinating him. Sibrand told Altaïr that he tried to free the Holy Land instead of conquer it, and that he was afraid of the afterlife, or the lack thereof.

Trivia

 * The cinematic video shown at the start of Assassin's Creed occurs in Acre.
 * Acre is also the location shown in most of the official pre-release Assassin's Creed trailers.
 * Acre was dramatically altered from the first few gameplay demo's shown at E3 in 2006. The first version of Acre had a larger area outside the city walls and could be entered while on horseback. The reason for such a change remains unknown.
 * Acre appears in Assassin's Creed: Altaïrs Chronicles, Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines and Assassin's Creed II. Making it the only city to appear in over three Assassin's Creed Games.
 * Acre's climate is dramatically different from the other settlements, since it is next to the Mediterranean Sea, giving a misty and foggy effect to the streets.
 * The tallest view point in Assassin's Creed is located in Acre, the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

Appearances

 * Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles
 * Assassin's Creed
 * Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines
 * Assassin's Creed II