Aleppo, which lies about 350 km to the north of Damascus, is another interesting city worth visiting while in Syria. It is the second largest city in Syria and famous for its citadel, mosques, schools, tombs and baths. It used to be the crossroads of traders especially those in the Mediterranean region and had a major role in the development of Syria's trade especially in the early nineties. It is also said to have longest covered souk in the Middle East. During the brief visit to Aleppo (about 28 hours) – from midday Friday till 4.40 pm Saturday, we managed to visit and explored the Great Mosque (Umayyad), the Citadel and the souk as well as an evening at the new shopping mall. Had dinner at Marrybrown, a Malaysian fast food chain.
| read further....... | [-] |
Briefly, the Great Mosque was built by the Umayyad Caliph al Walid, and has an enormous 45-meter minaret, which is completely detached from it, built by the Seljuks in 1070. Similar to the one in Damascus, there is a large courtyard between the main entrance and the prayer hall. Inside the prayer hall and to the left of the mihrab is a finely tiled chamber that is said to hold the remains of Prophet Zakaria, father of Prophet Yahya, whose remain lies in the Umayyad mosque in Damascus.
The Aleppo Citadel, meanwhile, is a magnificent fortress and considered to be one of the oldest in the region. The present structure and designs of the Aleppo citadel is slightly different from the Cracs du Chavalier in Homs.
The Aleppo souk, unlike the Damascus one, is covered by stone archways for about 30km. This makes it the longest covered souk in the Middle East. The souk is made up of a complicated maze of narrow cobbled streets that one could easily lost oneself as one moved from shops to shops. Bought some antique lamp shades and other trinkets as souvenirs to remind me of my trip to Aleppo.
There are other interesting places that one could see in Aleppo but I had to miss it this time around because the Latakia Express bound for Damascus has sounded its siren and we have to catch it fast.
