Aleppo travel guide

Background

Earliest stages

Like Damascus, clues to the earliest stages of Aleppo’s history come only from written records, the continuous layers of settlement since then having buried almost all archaeological evidence under a living city, which still thrives and grows. The earliest references to the city (then known as Halab) come from Hittite archives of the second millennium BC found at Mari and at sites on the Anatolian plateau. At that time Aleppo was the centre of the powerful Amorite kingdom of Yamkhad, which counted Ugarit and Ebla (both of which were by that time in decline) amongst its vassal states, although its exact relationship with the Amorite (or Babylonian) Empire of Hammurabi remains uncertain.

Hittites

Amorite rule in northern Syria gradually succumbed to pressure from the Hurrians and Mitannians from the northeast and east, and from the Hittites of the Anatolian plateau to the north. It was the Hittites who eventually held sway in northern Syria. Aleppo was probably made a vassal state during the 17th century BC under their ruler Hattusilis, and then in the early years of the 16th century BC his successor Mursilis I went on to overthrow Hammurabi’s Empire. During the following centuries Aleppo was for a time controlled by the Hurrians and Mitannians, while also briefly coming under the control of the Egyptians following the campaigns of the Pharaoh Thutmosis III (1490-36 BC). Around 1370 BC the Hittites, under the leadership of Suppiluliuma, once again took control of the city.

Assyrians, Babylonians and Seleucids

Soon afterwards, around 1200 BC, the Hittite Empire crumbled in the face of the invasion of the so-called Sea Peoples. In the aftermath of the destruction they wrought, small fragmented centres of neo-Hittite (or Syro-Hittite) power re-emerged, one of them centred on Aleppo. The absence of any centralized power in Syria created a vacuum that was eventually filled in the ninth century BC by the rising Assyrian Empire to the east. Aleppo was at first able to maintain partial independence as a vassal state, but was later totally subjugated by the Assyrian king Tiglath Pileser III (744-727 BC). The Assyrians were overthrown by the neo-Babylonians in 612 BC, and they in turn by the Achaemenid Persians following the capture of Babylon in 539 BC. The Persians ruled until the defeat of their king Darius at the hands of Alexander the Great in the battle of Issus in 333 BC. Following Alexander’s death in 323 BC, Aleppo became part of the Seleucid Empire of Seleucus Nicator. A new city, named Beroia, was founded here and enjoyed a certain degree of prosperity thanks to its proximity to the Seleucid capital, Antioch.

Romans and Byzantines

Following the Roman conquest of Syria in 64 BC, Aleppo remained under Roman and Byzantine rule for the next six centuries. This period was one of relative stability, and although Aleppo was somewhat eclipsed by the rise of new trade routes through Palmyra to the south and Cyrrhus to the north, it nevertheless thrived, most notably as a centre for the export of olive oil, the Romans having established highly productive olive groves in the limestone hills to the north and west. It also served as an important military outpost guarding Rome’s northern borders. Aleppo’s earliest surviving monument dates from this period, in the form of the fourth-century Cathedral of St Helena, subsequently converted into a madrassa (the Madrassa Halawiye).

Rise of Islam

With the decline of Byzantine power in the late sixth to early seventh century AD, Aleppo suffered heavily at the hands of the Sassanid Persians who sacked the city, though it was subsequently retaken by the Byzantines for a brief period before falling in AD 637 to the Muslim Arab forces of Khalid Ibn al-Walid. Located on the peripheries of the Islamic Empire, it was eclipsed somewhat by Damascus, which soon became the seat of the Umayyad Dynasty, and later by Baghdad, seat of the Abbasid Dynasty. Instead, the city established a certain measure of independence under its own local dynasties, breaking away from the Abbasids in the 10th century to became the centre of the Hamdanid Dynasty, founded by a tribe of Arab refugees from Iraq. Under the leadership of Saif ud-Daula (AD 944-967) the Hamdanids waged war energetically against the Byzantines, prompting them to retaliate and leading to the sacking of Aleppo in AD 962, and again in AD 969. In 1017 the Fatimids of Cairo briefly extended their influence north to include Aleppo, but by 1023 the city had once again achieved a certain degree of independence under the Mirdasids, a nomadic Arab tribe whose rule lasted until 1079 and depended on maintaining a delicate diplomatic balance between Fatimid and Byzantine interests.

Seljuk Turks and Crusaders

In the meantime, the Seljuk Turks, began to make their presence felt in northern Syria. They took control of Aleppo in 1070, leaving it at first to be ruled as a vassal state by the Mirdasids but later installing their own Seljuk rulers. The rise to power of the Seljuks and the threat they posed to the Byzantine Empire prompted the First Crusade. Having taken Antioch in 1098, the Crusaders went on to surround Aleppo, cutting it off from its agricultural land and severing its trade links with the Mediterranean, although they failed to take the city itself. It again came under attack in 1124 from the Crusader forces of Jocelyn of Edessa and was only saved when the Seljuk ruler of Mosul, Bursuqi, sent a relieving force in response to the entreaties of Ibn al-Khashab, the qadi of Aleppo. Bursuqi incorporated Aleppo into his realm and his son, Zengi, established the Zengid Dynasty; under his rule (1128-1146), and that of his son Nur ud-Din (1146-1174), Aleppo became a focus for resistance to the Crusaders. After years of neglect the city also experienced something of a renaissance, with lots of new construction being undertaken, most notably in the form of madrassas (religious schools) which were established in an attempt to restore Sunni orthodoxy in the face of the various heresies which prevailed at the time, particularly the Assassins who had been welcomed in Aleppo by its former ruler Ridwan.

Salah ud-Din’s success

Nur ud-Din’s son Al Salih ruled the city until his death in 1183 and was succeeded by Salah ud-Din who had by that time overthrown the Fatimid Caliphate in Cairo and established the Ayyubid Dynasty which was at last able to fully unite the Muslim world against the Crusader threat. His son Al-Zaher Ghazi ruled the city from 1193-1215. During his reign, most of the Citadel’s existing fortifications were built, while the city flourished, establishing an international trading reputation through the signing of a number of treaties with Venice which allowed Europeans direct access to Muslim markets without having to go through the Crusader states along the coast.

Mongols and Mamluks

However, Aleppo was not able to withstand the new threat which came from the north in the form of the Mongols, who sacked the city in 1260. Although the Mamluks quickly moved into Syria from their base at Cairo to drive back the Mongols, Aleppo remained largely forsaken at the northern extremities of their empire and it was not until the 14th century, when it became a base for Mamluk campaigns against the Armenians, that any attempts were made at repairing the destruction that the Mongols had caused. Even then, it was only in the 15th century, after the second Mongol invasion of 1400, that it began to regain its former wealth, with the trade routes which had been diverted to the north via the Black Sea and Cilicia once again being directed through Aleppo.

Ottoman rule and the French Mandate

In 1516 Aleppo became part of the Ottoman Empire and continued to flourish as a centre of trade. The souqs and khans for which the city is famous nearly all date from the late Mamluk and early Ottoman period, with the British, French and Dutch setting up office in the city alongside the Venetians under a series of ‘capitulation’ treaties. The European presence in the city also ensured a special position for the various local Christian communities, who became important intermediaries for the merchants in carrying out their trade, and under the capitulations enjoyed a protected status. By the 18th century, however, Aleppo’s fortunes were beginning to decline in the face of continuing competition from the new sea route to China and India, as well as routes through the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and across Russia. Apart from a brief spell from 1831-1840 when it became part of Ibrahim Pasha’s breakaway state, Aleppo remained under Ottoman rule until the collapse of their empire at the end of the First World War. Aleppo’s Armenian community, which had been growing steadily in the last decade of the 19th century as a result of the brutal suppression of Armenian nationalism elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire, saw a massive influx when that repression degenerated into full-scale genocide during the First World War, and today the strong Armenian presence remains a distinctive feature of the city.

In the early years of French Mandate rule, Aleppo (like Damascus) was made the capital of an independent mini-state, although this arrangement only lasted for three years. By the time full independence came in 1945, the French had given much of the old Ottoman province of Aleppo to Turkey. This created great animosity between the two countries and resulted in a severing of the city’s historically strong cultural and economic links with the Turks.

Modern Aleppo

Although now cut off from its traditional Mediterranean outlet of Antakya (ancient Antioch, now lying inside Turkey), Aleppo’s historic function as a trading city still continues. Nowadays it is traders from the various states of the former Soviet Union who descend upon the city to buy up the textiles for which it is famous. These groups of traders are a prominent feature of Aleppo; frequently taking over whole hotels in the downtown area and stacking their lobbies full of huge packaged bales to be loaded onto buses and trucks for the journey home.

Walking the fine line between modernization and preserving the city’s historical fabric has been Aleppo’s biggest issue in recent years. Ongoing migration from rural areas in the past 50 years has seen the city’s population explode. This migration led to many wealthier inhabitants abandoning the overcrowded Old City for the newly built suburbs outside; leaving their houses either empty or rented to poor tenants who couldn’t afford to maintain them. Also, up to the 1970s the government’s zeal to modernize led to haphazard demolition of parts of the city. Both these factors threatened to destroy Aleppo’s rich cultural heritage.

Since then serious efforts have been made to preserve the area. In 1986 Aleppo’s Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and in 1994 a project to rehabilitate and develop the Old City was born. This project (still ongoing) is slowly succeeding in revitalizing Aleppo’s oldest areas and ensuring that the city’s wealth of history is preserved for generations to come.

Getting around

Aleppo is reasonably compact and best explored on foot. Should you need them, there is no shortage of taxis prowling the streets of Aleppo. Fares should not exceed S£30 for journeys within the centre. Aleppo’s chaotic extensive local bus system is best avoided. If you do decide to give it a go the main terminal for local buses is the City Bus Station off Bab Antakya Street.

Ins and outs

Getting there and away

Aleppo has frequent bus and decent train services to Damascus and the northern centres in Syria, as well as connections to Turkey and Lebanon. The various microbus stations, spread over the city, service the smaller towns in the surrounding area.

The airport is 10 km to the east of Aleppo, off the main highway to Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. It mainly deals with domestic flights to Damascus but there are also direct international flights to a number of European and Middle Eastern cities. A taxi from the airport to the centre of town should cost around S£300.

In an effort to ease the city’s congestion problems, all intercity buses now arrive and depart from the Al-Ramousah bus station, an inconvenient 8 km out of town. There are frequent services from here to Damascus and all major centres north of the capital, and there’s usually no need to pre-book. A taxi from here to Aleppo centre is about S£100. There is talk of changing the location of this bus station yet again, so always ask your hotel for up-to-date information. The international (Karnak) bus station is in the town centre on Al-Maari Street. Buses and share taxis from Antakya (in Turkey) arrive here, as well as from Lebanon.

The train station (known as Baghdad Station) is situated at the end of Baghdad Street, one block after the park, about 2 km from Aleppo town centre. There are a few services a day from Lattakia and Damascus and daily services from the towns in the east: Deir ez-Zor, Hassakeh and Qameshli, as well as a twice-weekly service to Turkey. It has an extremely helpful information desk with English-speaking staff. To walk from the station to the centre of town, from the exit walk straight down Baghdad Street. After one block, cross the intersection with a park on your right-hand side. Walk straight ahead and turn right into Majd al-Din al-Jabri Street (keeping the park on your right-hand side at all times). After about 1km the park ends and you arrive at Kouwatly Square. A taxi from the train station to the centre will cost approximately S£40.

Aleppo

Air

Aleppo airport is 10 km to the east of the city. A taxi out will cost approximately S£300. Syrian Air operate direct international flights from Aleppo to a number of European and Middle Eastern cities including Athens, Beirut, Cairo, Dubai, Istanbul, Madrid, Munich and Rome. They also have 2-5 domestic flights daily to Damascus (S£1750).

BMI, Egypt Air, Gulf Air, Royal Jordanian and Turkish Airlines all operate flights from here. International airport departure tax is S£1500. This tax is currently being phased out at Damascus airport and the same may happen in Aleppo. Ask at your hotel for up-to-date information.

Most of the airline offices are on Baron St including the following: Atlantic Travel and Tourism, T021-211 2978, a friendly English-speaking travel agency who can organize onward flights. Syrian Air, T021- 212 5501, is based at the office next door.

Bus

Domestic departures

are from the Al- Ramousah Pullman Station. From the centre of town a taxi there costs about S£100. There are about 30 companies located here, which between them offer regular departures to all the major cities in Syria. There is no need to pre- book as services are generally frequent enough.

Kadmous has 6 services per day to Damascus (4½ hrs, S£200), via Hama (1½ hrs, S£100), at 0030, 0700, 0900, 1200, 1600 and 1800. To Tartus (3½ hrs. S£200), via Homs (2 hrs, S£135), there are 9 departures daily; 0730, 0930, 1100, 1145, 1330, 1445, 1715, 1930 and 2130. A bus to Raqqa (2½ hrs, S£125) leaves twice daily at 0530 and 1330; and to Deir ez-Zor (4½ hrs, S£200) the bus departs at 1300 and 1530.

International departures

are from the International (Karnak) Bus Station on the corner of Al-Maari St and Baron St in the centre of town. It’s a 15- to 20-min walk from Bab Antakya or from the Jdaide Quarter. There are frequent departures by bus and share taxi, to Antakya in Turkey from here. Al-Joud run buses across the border to Antakya twice a day at 0530 and 1200 (4½ hrs, S£250).

Share taxis

leave at all times of the day from here and charge approx S£500 per person. By far the most comfortable way to travel to Antakya is with the HAS bus. They have 1 daily departure at 1400 in a 16-seater minibus (3½ hrs, S£350). The drivers are friendly and help with border formalities. This route is busy so booking at least 1 day in advance is recommended. To Beirut, services all seem to depart at 2400 (7 hrs, S£250). Services to Amman mostly seem to leave at 2300 (9 hrs, S£450).

Car hire

Halabia Travel and Tourism can arrange car hire .

Europcar, T021-211 2238, http://www.europcar.sy, and Budget, T021-212 6885, www.budget- sy.com, are both based inside the Sheraton Hotel, Bab al-Faraj St.

There’s an underground car park on Bab Antakya St (just before Bab Antakya gate) that charges S£100 per day for parking.

Microbus

There are several different microbus stations in Aleppo. The dusty parking lot just off Bab Antakya St (basically opposite Bab Antakya gate) is where you can get a microbus to Daret Aazah (S£35), from where it is a further 6 km or so of walking or hitching to St Simeon (Qala’at Samaan). If you walk through this parking lot you’ll find yourself in the large, bustling Microbus/city bus station from where you can get old hob-hob style buses and microbuses to towns south of Aleppo. From here there are fairly regular departures to Ariha (S£75) and Maarat al-Numan (S£75), which are both useful for getting to Bara and Serjilla. There are also services to Idlib (S£85), Harim and dozens of other destinations.

Microbuses to most destinations north of Aleppo leave from a microbus station far to the north of the city centre known as ‘Garage Sahat Shahira Mol’. A taxi from the city centre to here costs about S£70. There are regular departures to Afrine (for Ain Dara) (S£95), Azaz (for Cyrrhus) (S£75) and Nabul (S£35) among many others.

To Qala’a Najm you need to go to the East bus station on the ring road east of the Old City. A taxi from the centre will cost about S£35. From here you can jump on a bus to Ain al-Arab and ask to be dropped off in Membij or at the turn-off to the castle.

Train

Baghdad Train Station handles services all over Syria and into Turkey. It shouldn’t cost anymore than S£40 to get here from anywhere in town in a taxi or it’s about a 25-min walk from the centre. There are 3 express services per day to Damascus (4¼ hrs, 1st class S£240, 2nd class S£120), via Hama (1¼ hrs, S£100) and Homs (2 hrs, S£130) at 0640, 1010 and 1645. There is also 2 slower overnight departures at 2400 (S£240) and 0350 (S£120). The 2400 departure also has 2-berth sleeper compartments (S£505).

The scenic train journey to Lattakia is very pretty. The route journeys through farmland before ascending through the spectacular Jebel Ansariye. There are 2 express services per day at 0600 and 1730 (2½ hrs, 1st class S£160, 2nd class S£135), and 3 normal services at 0445, 0648 and 1545 (3½ hrs, 1st class S£70, 2nd class S£50). To Deir ez-Zor (4 hrs, S£175), via Raqqa (2 hrs, S£120), there is 1 fast train daily at 1610. A daily, slow, overnight train leaves at 2315 to Qamishle (7 hrs, S£175) and goes via Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. Be aware that the train stations in Qamishle, Raqqa and Deir ez- Zor are inconveniently placed and it’s generally much easier to take a bus to these destinations.

To Turkey, an overnight seater-only train leaves at 2100 on Mon and Thu to Adana (7 hrs, S£1060) and Mersin (9 hrs, S£1245). Services to Istanbul are set to resume when track maintenance has been completed at some stage in 2010. When it does, the Aleppo–Istanbul Toros Express leaves Aleppo every Tue at 1105 reaching Istanbul Haydarpasa Station on Wed at 1755, though delays are common. The service does the same journey in reverse from Istanbul every Sun, leaving at 0855. Tickets can be purchased from the international ticket window at Aleppo Station (1-bed compartment S£5000, 2-bed compartment S£3450). There is no restaurant car on the train so make sure you bring food.

Orientation

The citadel and the Great Mosque, at the heart of the Old City, are Aleppo’s most important landmarks. Running east-west between the citadel and Bab Antakya Street are the main souqs, with Bab Antakya Street and its accompanying line of Mamluk city walls marking the western limits of the old city.

To the northwest of this is the main ‘downtown’ area of the modern city, where you will find the museum, the tourist office, the post and telephone office, many cheap restaurants, and the majority of the cheaper hotels. Taking its name from the hotel, Baron Street, running north-south, is the main focus for travel agents and airline offices.

To the north of the citadel the northern limits of the old city are marked by the modern Al-Khandak Street (unlike Damascus, Aleppo’s old city area is no longer clearly delineated; only along its western side do the city walls still survive). To the north of Al-Khandak Street is the Jdaide quarter, where most of Aleppo’s Christian population lives and works.

Banks

Banks are generally open Sat-Thu 0830-1330. There are several ATMs in Aleppo that are linked to the international networks. The following branches of CBS all have ATMs attached and handle currency exchange. CBS, Al-Azmeh St (the bank is on the 1st floor and entry is from the back of the shopping arcade); CBS, Corner Bab al-Faraj St and Kouwatly St; and CBS, Al-Moutanabbi St. Be aware that cards on the Maestro network sometimes do not work in CBS ATMs. The Sheraton Hotel on Bab al-Faraj St has an ATM which accepts all foreign cards and there’s a Bank of Syria and Overseas on Saad Allah al-Jabri St (opposite the park) that has an ATM.

Cultural centres

British Council, Al-Sabeel Dabbagh Building, Franciscan St, T021-228 0302, http://www.britishcouncil.org/syria. French Cultural Centre, Rue Faycal, T021-227 4460.

Internet

Concord Internet, Kouwatly St. You need to bring your passport to register.

Medical services

There are plenty of pharmacies in the downtown. If you fall ill, the best step initially is to seek help from your hotel who will call a local doctor for you. The Aleppo University Hospital, T021-223 6120, is in the modern western district of Aleppo, opposite the Pullman al-Shahba hotel. It offers a generally high standard of facilities and treatment.

Post

The main post office is situated on the southwest corner of Kouwatly Sq in the downtown area and is open daily 0800-1700. The parcel post office is next door. DHL have an office just off Kouwatly St, open 0930-2300.

Telephone

There are Easycomm card-phones dotted around all over the city, with phonecards being sold from nearby shops, kiosks, etc. You can also buy them from the central telephone office, which shares the same building as the main post office on the southwest corner of Kouwatly Sq.

Visa extensions

Passport and Immigration Office, north of the citadel entrance, Sat-Thu 0800-1330. You need 4 passport photos, a letter from your hotel and must pay S£25. Get there early and you may be able to complete the process within less than an hour, When busy it can take most of the morning. It is possible to get extensions of up to 1 month here (some travellers report getting 2 months, although there seem to be no fixed rules on this). If you want an extension of more than the standard 2 weeks, be sure to make this very clear at every stage of the process, otherwise 2 weeks are all that you will be given. There are several shops across the road from the office where you can get passport photos on the spot.