Aleppo

There is much to explore in Aleppo beyond its famous souq and citadel, and we spent several days last week exploring the alternate sides to this city.

Aleppo is a confluence of cultures. Among its most prominent cuisines are Armenian and Turkish, and Syrian food with a distinctive Aleppan twist. There are large numbers of Armenian and other Christian minorities residing in the city, many of whom were driven out of Turkey in the early 20th century. On Sunday we participated in an Armenian Orthodox mass, a rich experience blending tradition, incense and a liturgy sung entirely in Armenian.

One of the interesting historical spots in Aleppo is the Baron hotel. The Lonely Planet describes it as follows: “The Near Eastern extension of the Orient Express used to terminate in Aleppo and the rich and famous traveling on it generally ended up staying in the Baron. The old leather-found visitors book turns up names such as Charles Lindbergh, Amy Johnson and Charles Kingsford-Smith, as well as TE Lawrence, Theodore Roosevelt and Agatha Christie, who wrote the first part of Murder on the Orient Express while staying here.” The Baron is now well past its prime, but we enjoyed an after-dinner jaunt to its bar, where we sipped wine and had a pleasant conversation with the gentlemanly bartender, while listening to Mariah Carey!

Aleppo is this year’s winner of the designation “Capitol of Islamic Culture.” This is the second year of the contest (the first year the title was given to Mecca), and among the benefits are an influx of funds for the beautification of the city. The official celebrations begin in March, including a keynote address from Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad. We witnessed the flurry of activity in preparation for these events – newly painted buses, new benches for the city parks, and many other improvements. It was wonderfully unusual to see this investment in the upkeep of public spaces in Syria.

Another area of interest is a re-development project in Aleppo’s old city. In the 1980’s, much of old city had fallen into disrepair and been subject to “modernization” project such as cut-through roads and high rise buildings which destroyed parts of Aleppo’s ancient heritage. In 1986, the entire old city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A number of organizations including the Aga Khan Foundation and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) have been working on this comprehensive restoration and renovation project, the goal of which is to preserve the old city as a historic but living entity. While exploring some of the developments sites near Bab Quinnesrin one afternoon, we chanced to meet an archaeology PhD student who gave us a personal tour and then invited us to his home for tea. It was great to hear about the restoration of the old city from one of its residents. We’re looking forward to our next visit, when we will take our new friend up on his invitation to dinner.