The big art of the Middle Age
Aleppo is now Syria‘s second biggest city. It has had a major role in the development of Syria’s trade especially in the early nineties. It remains a popular city for tourists who like to visit the Citadel and the Middle East’s longest covered souk. It is also famous for its architecture and intricate stonework. The Citadel is located on a partly man-made hill, about 50 metres above the city. This site makes it difficult for archaeologists to dig, but it would be surprising if settling traces there didn’t reach back to the neolithic ages. The present citadel was built in the late 13th century and replaced the older one, which was destroyed by the Mongols.
The formidable symbol of Aleppo – the Citadel – belongs to a later era. Crowning a precipitous hill in the heart of the old city, it is regarded by some travelers as the most spectacular medieval fortress in the Middle East. The hill itself is partly artificial, a prehistoric tell built up of ruins from many cultures each layered atop the last. The citadel is said to have been stormed successfully only once: by the Mongol Timur Leng (Tamerlane). More often, the fortress, with room for a garrison of 10,000, stood firm even as invaders devastated the city below.
