Showing 1-15 of 15 results
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Al-Adliyya Mosque
Towards the bottom of Souq al-Nahaseen, just before it becomes Sharia Bab Qinnesrin, a short passageway leads to Al-Adliyya Mosque, built in 1555 and one of the city's major Ottoman-era mosques. It's worth a quick look inside for the fine tiling.
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Bab al-Qinnesrin
Sharia Bab Qinnesrin is the southern continuation of Souq an-Nahaseen (Coppersmiths' Souq, which unfortunately no longer houses coppersmiths), and it runs down to Bab al-Qinnesrin, the surviving southern Old City gate. It's been a prime beneficiary of the attentions of the GTZ and the Old City rehabilitation project. It only stretches for a little over 500m, but in that stretch there's quite a lot to see.
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Bab Antakya
The 13th-century Bab Antakya, the western gate of the old walled city, is all but completely hidden by the swarm of busy workshops surrounding it, but you definitely get a sense of 'entering' as you pass under its great stone portal and through the defensively doglegged vaulted passageway. Once through here you emerge onto Souq Bab Antakya, the bazaar's bustling main thoroughfare, which runs due east to halt abruptly at the foot of the Citadel, some 1.5km away.
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Beit Ghazzali
Backtrack across Saahat al-Hatab and make a beeline south along Sharia al-Kayyali. On the right is a door with a plaque announcing Beit GhazzaliNew. This is the largest house in the quarter. It was built in the 17th century and served as an Armenian school for much of the 20th century. It's now owned by the city council and is undergoing restoration until its fate is decided. Some of the walls have fine painted decoration and there's a splendid private hammam.
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Beit Wakil
Beit Wakil is two 18th-century houses lovingly transformed into a stunning boutique hotel and courtyard restaurant.
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Bimaristan Arghan
The splendid Bimaristan Arghan, is one of the most enchanting buildings in the whole of Aleppo. Dating from the 14th century, it was converted from a house into an asylum, a role it continued to perform until the 20th century. The main entrance gives access to a beautifully kept courtyard with a central pool overhung by greenery. Diagonally across, a doorway leads through to a series of tight passages, one of which terminates in a small, octagonal, domed courtyard.
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Citadel
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.
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Khan al-Jumruk
The great gateway of the magnificent Khan al-Jumruk, completed in 1574, is the largest and most impressive of Aleppo's khans. At one time it housed the consulates and trade missions of the English, Dutch and French, in addition to 344 shops. Its days as a European enclave are now long gone but the khan is still in use, serving as a cloth market. The decoration on the interior façade of the gateway is splendid.
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Khan al-Nahaseen
Next to Al-Jumruk (but entered from the east side) is the much smaller Khan al-Nahaseen , dating from the first half of the 16th century. Until the 19th century, rooms on the 1st floor housed the Venetian consul, and during the 20th century they were the residence of the Belgian consul, Adolphe Poche, and his family. Madam Jenny Poche, descended from the last of the Venetian consuls, maintains the property, which may well qualify as the oldest continuously inhabited house in Aleppo.
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Khan al-Sabun
Away from the shopping temptations in the souq, there are some other khans well worth your time. In the block east of the Great Mosque is the early-16th-century Khan al-Sabun, largely obscured by a clutter of shops but with a distinctive, richly decorated Mamluk façade, considered to be one of the best examples of Mamluk architecture in the city. Internally it's one of the prettiest of khans , with vine-hung trelliswork and the brightly hued wares of carpet sellers draped over the balconies.
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Khan al-Tutun Kebir
Beyond Al-Kamiliyya mosque, a corrugated-iron roof blots out the sunlight and the souq proper starts. To the left are entranceways to two adjacent khans, or travellers' inns, Khan al-Tutun Sughayyer and Khan al-Tutun Kebir, the little and big khans of Tutun, although in fact they're both fairly modest in scale.
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Khan al-Tutun Sughayyer
Beyond Al-Kamiliyya mosque, a corrugated-iron roof blots out the sunlight and the souq proper starts. To the left are entranceways to two adjacent khans, or travellers' inns, Khan al-Tutun Sughayyer and Khan al-Tutun Kebir, the little and big khans of Tutun, although in fact they're both fairly modest in scale.
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Khan al-Wazir
The 17th-century Khan al-Wazir, has a beautifully decorated gateway. It's one of the grandest such structures in Aleppo and largely unaltered by modern development.
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Madrassa Halawiyya
Opposite the western entrance of the mosque, the former theological college Madrassa Halawiyya was built in 1245 and stands on the site of what was once the 6th-century Cathedral of St Helen. The prayer hall opposite the entrance incorporates all that remains of the cathedral, which is a semicircular row of six columns with intricately decorated, acanthus-leaved capitals.
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Saahat al-Hatab
If there's a heart to Al-Jdeida, then it's Saahat al-Hatab in the oldest area of Salibeh, lined with shops selling oriental jewellery.
Showing 1-15 of 15 results
