ALEPPO – HALAB al-SHAHBA’, The Great City

ANCIENT CITY OF ALEPPO – An Overview

“As one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, Aleppo has long been the urban, commercial, and cultural center of northwestern Syria. Aleppo‘s role as a commercial hub and a trade center that began in the 2nd millennium BC and reached its peak during the 16th-18th centuries AD. In the center of the ancient city, the Aleppo citadel rises 50m above the surrounding area and dates to the 10th century BC or earlier, and stands on the remains of Hittite, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ayyubid period buildings. The surrounding walled city dates to the same periods, with still standing structures and architectural remains. Surviving remains include medieval gates, 6th century Christian structures, Roman period street plans, Ayyubid and Mamluk mosques and schools, and many Ottoman period homes and palaces. One of the most well-known cultural sites in Aleppo is the Great Mosque, which was founded in the Umayyad period and rebuilt in the 12th century with a Mamluk minaret dated to AD 1090. Next to the Ummayad Mosque is a Byzantine cathederal that later became the al Halawyah Madrassa–a Koranic school. The Ancient City of Aleppo was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1986.” (Source: “Expactify.com Navigating the Major Cities of Syria“)

“The city’s significance in history has been its location at one end of the Silk Road. According to many historians, Aleppo was the most developed commercial and industrial city in the Ottoman Empire after Constantinople and Cairo.”

OUR VISIT TO ALEPPO

In 2001, on the invitation of our close friend, Professor (Dr.) Ahmad Yusuf al-Hassan, Dean of School of Engineering and later President at the University of Aleppo, we visited and stayed in Aleppo (for a week) and enjoyed Dr. Hassan’s mother’s hospitality, a real Syrian food dishes.

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