Things to do in Aleppo
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National Museum
Aleppo's National Museum , in the middle of town opposite the tourist office, is rather nondescript apart from the extraordinary colonnade of giant granite figures that fronts the entrance. Standing on the backs of stylised creatures are wide-eyed characters, replicas of pillars that once supported the 9th-century-BC temple-palace complex at Tell Halaf, near the border with Turkey in the northeast of the country.
From the entrance hall the exhibits were displayed chronologically in an anticlockwise direction, but at the time of research the museum was undergoing extensive 'renovation', which was being conducted with scant concern for safety and little respect for the arte…
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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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Great Mosque
On the northern edge of the souq is the Great Mosque or Umayyad Mosque, the younger sibling (by 10 years) of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. It's also known as Al-Jamaa Zacharia after Prophet Zacharia, the father of St John the Baptist. Started by Caliph Al-Walid (r AD 705-15), who earlier founded the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, the work was completed by his successor Caliph Suleiman (r AD 715-17).
However, aside from the plan, nothing survives of the original mosque as the building has been destroyed and rebuilt countless times. Miraculously, the mosque's freestanding minaret has managed to survive in exactly its original form, as built from 1090 to 1092, although it doe…
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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.
Its rooms are filled with a beguiling variety of collections gathered by family members over the centuries, including archaeological finds, antiquities, mosaics and precious early photography, …
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Souq
Not as extensive as Cairo's Khan al-Khalili or as grand as Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, Aleppo's Souq is nonetheless one of the most atmospheric in the Middle East. Its appeal derives largely from the fact that it's still the main centre of local commerce. If an Aleppan housewife needs some braid for her curtains, a taxi driver needs a new seat cover, or the school kids need backpacks, it's to the souq that they all come. Little seems to have changed here in hundreds of years, and while recent years have seen an increase in tourism, the local trade has yet to be displaced by sightseers.
Parts of the souq date from the 13th century, but the bulk of what stands today belongs to…
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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.
Until the development of the New City in the 19th century, this was Aleppo's main street, tracing the route of the decumanus, the principal thoroughfare of the Roman city of Beroia. A great triumphal arch is though…
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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.
For several hundred years the cathedral and the Great Mosque (built in the cathedral's gardens) stood next to each other, serving their respective faiths, who worshipped side by side in harmony. The cathedral was only seized by the Muslims in 1124 in response to atrocities committed by the Crusaders.
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Beit Sissi
Splendidly set in a restored 17th-century house with dining in an elegant courtyard (or a cosy interior room in the colder months), Beit Sissi is Aleppo's finest restaurant. Expect Syrian, Aleppan and French cuisine of the highest quality. Don't miss the delicious green beans in olive oil, the tasty ratatouille aubergine, the sujok (spicy sausage rolled in Arabic bread, sliced into snail-like pieces and then fried - the best we've tasted!) and the signature dish, cherry kebab.
There's a wonderful oud (lute) player most nights. Alcohol is served and credit cards are accepted.
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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.
Off this are 11 small cells; these are where the dangerous patients were confined.
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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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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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Al-Qaiqan Mosque
Take a quick detour left, immediately after Bab Antakya, up a flight of stone steps beside a hammam (often flagged by towels drying outside), to a street that follows the line of the old city ramparts. In addition to fascinating views, there's the little Al-Qaiqan Mosque with its doorway flanked by basalt Byzantine columns, a façade studded with column segments, and a block inscribed with Hittite script embedded in the south wall.
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Haj Abdo al-Fawwal
Opening early every morning, this is the best place to get Aleppan-style foul (fava bean soup), delicately seasoned with cumin, paprika, garlic, lemon juice and fresh parsley. Crowds gather around the tiny shop from 07:00, bearing empty containers of every size and description, pushing and shoving their way to the front for their share of this aromatic dish. Don't leave Aleppo without trying some for yourself.
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Hammam Yalbougha an-Nasry
Originally constructed in 1491, Hammam Yalbougha an-Nasry was one of Syria's finest working bathhouses and something of a city showpiece, yet was closed for maintenance at the time of research with no opening date fixed. If you can manage to get in to take a look around, there's a splendid sun clock inside the dome above reception. If it is operational again, don't leave Aleppo without having a massage and scrub here.
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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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Cinemas
There is no shortage of Cinemas along Sharia al-Baron and its northern extension Sharia Yousef al-Azmeh. Most of what they screen is martial arts, soft porn and trashy B-movies. More entertaining are the airbrushed posters outside advertising the movies. These slightly risqué posters, used to entice the almost exclusively male customers, generally depict the very scenes that have been removed by the censor.
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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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Al-Andalib
This rooftop restaurant on the same block as the Baron Hotel is popular with travellers who eat early, around 18:00 to 19:00. Later on, after 22:00, it tends to locals only - mostly male, so women may feel uncomfortable. The menu includes kebabs, salads, fries, hummus and a baba ghanoug that's a purée of aubergines with tahini and olive oil. The food is fresh and beer is served.
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Arabica
In Al-Aziziah, Syria's Starbucks does delicious iced lattés as well as providing a fascinating slice of life that you won't experience in the Old City, especially after 18:00, when the music goes up a few notches and Aleppo's shebab (youth) spill out on to the footpath. The café offers free wireless internet and if you don't have your own laptop they'll even lend you one.
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Sebastian
On the fringes of the souq, this place stocks a small but superb range of high-quality textiles, tablecloths, inlaid backgammon boards and boxes. However, the speciality is rustic kilims, silk rugs and antique carpets. The multilingual owner, Mohammed, is highly knowledgeable, accepts credit cards and provides certificates, but most of all, he won't pressure you to get a sale.
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Armenian Cathedral of the 40 Martyrs
Al-Jdeida is home to five major churches, each aligned to a different denomination. On Haret al-Yasmin, is the entrance to the 17th-century Armenian Cathedral of the 40 Martyrs. If possible, it's worth visiting on a Sunday to observe the Armenian mass performed here, which is still pervaded with a sensuous aura of ritual. It starts at 10:00 and lasts two hours.
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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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Cordoba
This long-standing local favourite is easily the best restaurant on this strip, with some of the tastiest Aleppan food you'll find in Syria. There's no menu in English, but try the toshka and maajouka (meat, cheese pistachios and peppers shaped into a patty). Beer and arak are served.
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Sharaf Mosque
To the north of Saahat al-Hatab is Sharaf Mosque, one of the neighbourhood's earliest monuments, built in the reign of the Mamluk sultan Qaitbey (r 1468-96). At the western corner, just the other side of Orient House Antiques, a stylised sculpture of two robed women marks the turn for Sharia al-Sissi.
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