Citadel

Lonely Planet review

Rising up on a high mound at the eastern end of the souq, the Citadel is Aleppo's most famous and most spectacular landmark. Dominating the city, it has long been the heart of its defences.

The mound it stands upon is not, as it first seems, artificial: it's a natural feature that originally served as a place of worship, as evidenced by two basalt lions unearthed and identified as belonging to a 10th-century-BC temple.

It's thought the first fortifications were erected at the time of the Seleucids (364-333 BC), but everything seen today dates from much later. The Citadel served as a power base for the Muslims during the 12th-century Crusades, when the moat, 20m deep and 30m wide, was dug and the lower two-thirds of the mound were encased in a stone glacis. Much rebuilding and strengthening occurred during Mamluk rule from 1250 to 1517 and it's largely their work that survives.

To enter, cross the moat by a stepped bridge on the south side. Any attacking forces would have been dangerously exposed on the bridge as they confronted the massive fortified keep, from which defenders could rain down arrows and pour boiling oil through the row of machicolations. The bastion, off to the right, was added in the 14th century to allow for flanking fire on the bridge.

The first great gate was set to the right rather than dead in front of the bridge to prevent charges with a battering ram. Note the beautiful calligraphy and entwined dragons above the gate and the door decorated with horseshoes. Once through the gate, a succession of five right-angle turns and three sets of steel-plated doors formed a formidable barrier to any would-be aggressors. Some of the doors still remain; one is decorated with a pair of lions, echoing the millennia-old use of lions as guardians against evil, as seen in the National Museum.

Take the path north. On the right is a series of doorways, one of which has steps leading down to two sunken chambers that served as a cistern and prison. Beyond is a set of stairs doubling back to lead up to the remains of an Ayyubid Palace dating from the 13th century. The most striking remains are of a soaring entrance portal with stalactite stone decoration. To the rear of the palace is a recently renovated Mamluk-era hammam.

A path from the hammam leads back towards the fortified keep and its heavily restored throne room, with a magnificent, intricately decorated wooden ceiling.

Back on the main path, off to the left is the small 12th-century Mosque of Abraham, attributed to Nureddin and one of several legendary burial places for the head of John the Baptist.

At the northern end of the path, opposite what is now a café is the 13th-century great mosque, a rather grandiose title for a building of such humble dimensions. The café is housed in an Ottoman-era barracks, and it's from here that you are gifted with extraordinary views over the collage of roofs, domes and minarets.