Ottoman period Being one of four Khans in Acre, Khan al-Umdan was built in 1784 on the place of the Royal Customs house of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem. Due to its plethora of columns the khan was named Khan al-Umdan which means "Inn of the Columns" or "Caravanserai of Pillars".
Camel caravans once brought produce and grain from
Galilean villages to the city's markets and port. The khan later gained importance to the
Baháʼí Faith (as the Khán-i-'Avámid) as it was the site where
Baha'ullah used to receive guests, and later the site for a Baháʼí school. In 1906 a
clock tower was added adjacent to the main entrance to the khan to commemorate the
silver jubilee of the rule of Ottoman sultan
Abd al-Hamid II. It is similar to the
Jaffa Clock Tower, a building dedicated to the same purpose, along with five more towers in Ottoman Palestine (in Jerusalem, Haifa, Safed, Nablus, and possibly Nazareth) and over a hundred across the entire empire.
Modern era In 2001 Khan al-Umdan, together with the rest of Acre's old city, was designated as a
World Heritage Site. In 2004 Khan al-Umdan () was featured on a
stamp of Israel worth 1.3
sheqels. Nowadays, the khan is a major tourist attraction open all hours of the day and used as an open-air stage during festivals in the city, such as the theater festival of Acre during the month of October. ==References==