BBC Travel still having trouble locating Acco

Back in May 2016 the BBC News website published an article by BBC Travel about the Knights Templar which included a geographical error.

“By that point, the knights were no longer needed as crusaders. Their military stronghold of Acre, in present-day Syria, had fallen in 1291. The knights were still engaging in smaller-scale raids, but the Crusades had effectively ended – and, for the Church, had not ended well.” [emphasis added]

Several days after publication, that inaccuracy was corrected and Acco (Acre) was accurately described in the body of the article as being located in “present-day Israel”.

The same article was republished on the BBC News website on January 3rd but it still includes an inaccurate footnote added after that correction was made nearly eight months ago.

footnote-templars-art

To get from Acco to the border with Lebanon one has to drive for about half an hour and to get to the border with Syria – right across the other side of the country – takes at least an hour and a half by car. In order to be “near the borders of Lebanon and Syria”, Acco would have to be located in the Upper Galilee – over 80 kms from its actual location.

map-acco

Clearly BBC Travel’s geographical knowledge still leaves much to be desired.    

 

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