Fortress sights in Aleppo
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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.
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 30…
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