Visited on a group tour in April 2023.
It is a pity that this ancient city suffered twice; during the civil war there was a four-year battle for control of the city, which led to the destruction of a significant part of the historical center. And only the city began to rebuild when it became the epicenter of a terrible earthquake in February 2023. I was there a couple of months after this tragedy; it was scary to see whole blocks of ruins. But at the same time, people do not give up. It was nice to see the citizens who were walking in the central square near the Citadel, eating ice cream, listening to music. A sense of normal life in a half-destroyed metropolis.
Aleppo was located in a strategically important location, on the main route of the Great Silk Road, which led to Antioch and was further divided into sea routes.
Here, too, it turned out to be a place of constant clash of civilizations; it logically ended with the construction of the largest fortress of the Islamic world in the 12th and 13th centuries. A modern city was formed under its walls. Its old part is a labyrinth typical of Arab cities with densely built-up buildings, diluted with endless mosques, madrasahs, khans, a huge souk (more precisely, a conglomerate of niche markets), and compact quarters of religious minorities with their own temples. I would especially like to mention the factory for the production of the famous local soap, which we managed to visit during the tour, where production technologies have remained unchanged for centuries.
Despite the modernist interventions of the second half of the 20th century in the form of separate wide roads and architectural complexes with the corresponding demolition of old buildings, in general, Aleppo preserved its medieval Ottoman character. Well, in 2012, the civil war came here. A third of ancient Aleppo was destroyed.
The citadel, the Great Mosque, and other mosques were also damaged; of the grandiose Suk, only a small fragment remained and nothing at all from many quarters. Something is gradually being rebuilt, but there is still so much work, and everything that has been done looks so new that I don't even know if the spirit of the place will return to Aleppo. The citadel, which survived the war, cracked due to the earthquake, so the entrance was closed for visitors.
Surprisingly, the National Museum of Aleppo was opened, where it was possible to get acquainted with local archaeological cultures.
And yet, when I remember Aleppo, hope awakens in me. Although, of course, the title of the largest city in Syria has already been lost forever.