![Aleppo Citadel 18 - Throne Hall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Aleppo_Citadel_18_-_Throne_Hall.jpg)
The Citadel of Aleppo ( ar, قلعة حلب, Qalʿat Ḥalab) is a large
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
fortified palace in the centre of the old city of
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_caption =
, image_map1 =
...
, northern
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. It is considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in the world. Usage of the Citadel hill dates back at least to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. Occupied by many civilizations over timeincluding the
Armenians
Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...
,
Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
,
Byzantines,
Ayyubids
The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin h ...
,
Mamluks
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') i ...
and
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
the majority of the construction as it stands today is thought to originate from the Ayyubid period. An extensive conservation work took place in the 2000s by the
Aga Khan Trust for Culture
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a family of institutions created by Aga Khan IV with distinct but complementary mandates to improve the welfare and prospects of people in the developin ...
, in collaboration with Aleppo Archeological Society. Dominating the city, the Citadel is part of the
Ancient City of Aleppo
The Ancient City of Aleppo ( ar, مدينة حلب القديمة, Madīnat Ḥalab al-Qadīma) is the historic city centre of Aleppo, Syria. Before the Syrian Civil War, many districts of the ancient city remained essentially unchanged since ...
, an
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site since 1986. During the 2010s, the Citadel received significant damage during the lengthy
Battle of Aleppo
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
.
It was reopened to the public in early 2018 with repairs to damaged parts underway.
History
The recently discovered temple of the ancient storm-god
Hadad
Hadad ( uga, ), Haddad, Adad (Akkadian: 𒀭𒅎 '' DIM'', pronounced as ''Adād''), or Iškur ( Sumerian) was the storm and rain god in the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions.
He was attested in Ebla as "Hadda" in c. 2500 BCE. ...
dates use of the hill to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, as referenced in
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
texts from
Ebla
Ebla ( Sumerian: ''eb₂-la'', ar, إبلا, modern: , Tell Mardikh) was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria. Its remains constitute a tell located about southwest of Aleppo near the village of Mardikh. Ebla was an important center t ...
and
Mari. The city became the capital of
Yamhad
Yamhad was an ancient Semitic kingdom centered on Ḥalab (Aleppo), Syria. The kingdom emerged at the end of the 19th century BC, and was ruled by the Yamhadite dynasty kings, who counted on both military and diplomacy to expand their realm. ...
and was known as the "City of Hadad". The temple remained in use from the
24th century BC
The 24th century BC was a century that lasted from the year 2400 BC to 2301 BC.
Events
*c. 2900 BC–2334 BC: Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period continue.
*c. 2400 BC–2000 BC: large painted jar with birds in the border made in ...
to at least the 9th century BC, as evidenced by reliefs discovered at it during excavations by German archaeologist Kay Kohlmeyer.
The patriarch
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
is said to have milked his sheep on the citadel hill.
[Bianca and Gaube, 2007, pp. 73–103] After the decline of the Neo-Hittite state centered in Aleppo, the Assyrians dominated the area (8th–4th century BC), followed by the Neo-Babylonians and the Persians (539–333).
Seleucid period
After Aleppo was taken by the armies of
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
, Aleppo was ruled by
Seleucus I Nicator
Seleucus I Nicator (; ; grc-gre, Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ , ) was a Macedonian Greek general who was an officer and successor ( ''diadochus'') of Alexander the Great. Seleucus was the founder of the eponymous Seleucid Empire. In the po ...
, who undertook the revival of the city under the name Beroia. Medieval Arab historians say that the history of the citadel as a fortified acropolis began under Nicator.
In some areas of the citadel there are up to two meters of remains of Hellenistic settlement. A colonnaded street led up to the citadel hill from the west, where the south area of Aleppo still retains the Hellenistic grid street plan.
[Gonnela, 2008, p.11]
Roman and Byzantine periods
After the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
deposed the
Seleucid
The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
dynasty in 64 BC, the citadel hill continued to have religious significance. Emperor
Julian, in his 363 AD visit to Aleppo noted "I stayed there for a day, visited the acropolis, offered a white bull to Zeus according to imperial customs, and held a short talk with the town council about worshiping the gods." Very few physical remains have been found from the Roman age in the Citadel.
[Gonnela, 2008, pp. 12–13]
The Roman Empire was divided into two parts in 395. Aleppo was in the eastern half,
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
. During the clashes with the
Sassanian
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
king
Khosrau II
Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩, Husrō), also known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling fr ...
in the 7th century, the population of Aleppo is said to have taken refuge in the Citadel because the city wall was in a deplorable state. Currently, very few remains from the Byzantine period have been found on the Citadel Hill, although the two mosques inside the Citadel are known to be converted from churches originally built by the Byzantines.
Early Islamic period
Muslim troops captured Aleppo in 636 AD. Written sources document repairs being made on the citadel after a major earthquake. Little is known about the citadel in the period of early Islam, except that Aleppo was a frontier town on the edges of the
Ummayad and
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
empires.
Sayf al-Dawla
ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī ( ar, علي بن أبو الهيجاء عبد الله بن حمدان بن الحارث التغلبي, 22 June 916 – 9 February 967), more commonly known ...
, a
Hamdanid
The Hamdanid dynasty ( ar, الحمدانيون, al-Ḥamdāniyyūn) was a Twelver Shia Arab dynasty of Northern Mesopotamia and Syria (890–1004). They descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib Christian tribe of Mesopotamia and Eastern Ara ...
prince, conquered the city in 944, and it subsequently rose to a political and economic renaissance.
The Hamdanids built a reputedly splendid palace on the banks of the river, but moved to the Citadel after
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
troops attacked in 962. A period of instability followed Hamdanid rule, marked by Byzantine and
Beduin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Ar ...
attacks, as well as a short-term rule by the Egyptian-based
Fatimids
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
. The
Mirdasids
The Mirdasid dynasty ( ar, المرداسيون, al-Mirdāsiyyīn), also called the Banu Mirdas, was an Arab dynasty which ruled an Aleppo-based emirate in northern Syria and the western Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) more or less continuously fro ...
were said to have converted the two churches into mosques.
Zengid and Ayyubid periods
![Aleppo Cittadella - GAR - 9-22](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Aleppo_Cittadella_-_GAR_-_9-22.JPG)
The citadel rose to the peak of its importance in the period during and after the Crusader presence in the Near East.
Zengid
The Zengid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Oghuz Turkic origin, which ruled parts of the Levant and Upper Mesopotamia on behalf of the Seljuk Empire and eventually seized control of Egypt in 1169. In 1174 the Zengid state extended from Tripoli ...
ruler
Imad ad-Din Zengi
Imad al-Din Zengi ( ar, عماد الدین زنكي; – 14 September 1146), also romanized as Zangi, Zengui, Zenki, and Zanki, was a Turkmen atabeg, who ruled Mosul, Aleppo, Hama, and, later, Edessa. He was the namesake of the Zengid dyna ...
– followed by his son
Nur ad-Din (ruled 1147–1174) – successfully unified Aleppo and Damascus and held back the Crusaders from their repeated assaults on the cities. Several famous crusaders were imprisoned in the citadel, among them
Count of Edessa
The County of Edessa (Latin: ''Comitatus Edessanus'') was one of the Crusader states in the 12th century. Ferdinandi, Sergio (2017). La Contea Franca di Edessa. Fondazione e Profilo Storico del Primo Principato Crociato nel Levante (1098-115 ...
,
Joscelin II
Joscelin II of Edessa (died 1159) was the fourth and last ruling count of Edessa. He was son of his predecessor Joscelin I of Edessa and Beatrice, daughter of Constantine I of Armenia.
Biography
In 1122, Joscelin I was captured by Belek Ghazi. ...
, who died there,
Raynald of Châtillon
Raynald of Châtillon (french: Renaud; 11254 July 1187), also known as Reynald or Reginald, was a Crusader knight of French origin but also Prince of Antioch from 1153 to 1160 or 1161, and Lord of Oultrejordain from 1175 until his death. He wa ...
, and the King of Jerusalem,
Baldwin II, who was held for two years. In addition to his many works in both Aleppo and Damascus, Nur ad-Din rebuilt the Aleppo city walls and fortified the citadel. Arab sources report that he also made several other improvements, such as a high, brick-walled entrance ramp, a palace, and a racecourse likely covered with grass. Nur ad-Din additionally restored or rebuilt the two mosques and donated an elaborate wooden
mihrab
Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...
(prayer niche) to the Mosque of Abraham. The mihrab disappeared during the
French Mandate
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (french: Mandat pour la Syrie et le Liban; ar, الانتداب الفرنسي على سوريا ولبنان, al-intidāb al-fransi 'ala suriya wa-lubnān) (1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate foun ...
.
[Gonnela, 2008, pp. 14–19]
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
's son,
al-Zahir al-Ghazi, ruled Aleppo between 1193 and 1215. During this time, the citadel went through major reconstruction, fortification and addition of new structures that create the complex of the Citadel in its current form today. Sultan Ghazi strengthened the walls, smoothed the surface of the outcrop and covered sections of the slope at the entrance area with stone cladding. The depth of the moat was increased, connected with water canals and spanned by a tall bridge-cum-viaduct, which today still serves as the entrance into the Citadel. During the first decade of the 13th century the citadel evolved into a palatial city that included functions ranging from residential (palaces and baths), religious (mosque and shrines), military installations (arsenal, training ground, defence towers and the entrance block) and supporting elements (water cisterns and granaries). The most prominent renovation is the entrance block rebuilt in 1213. Sultan Ghazi also had the two mosques on the Citadel restored, and expanded the city walls to include the southern and eastern suburbs, making the citadel the centre of the fortifications, rather than alongside the wall.
Mongol and Mamluk periods
The citadel was damaged by the
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
invasion of 1260 and again destroyed by the invasion led by the
Turco-Mongol
The Turco-Mongol or Turko-Mongol tradition was an ethnocultural synthesis that arose in Asia during the 14th century, among the ruling elites of the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate. The ruling Mongol elites of these Khanates eventually ...
leader
Timur
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
which swept through Aleppo in 1400–1401.
In 1415 the Mamluk governor of Aleppo, prince Sayf al-Din, was authorized to rebuild the citadel, which by then stood at the centre of a significant trading city of between 50,000–100,000 inhabitants. Sayf al-Din's additions included two new advance towers on the north and south slopes of the citadel, and the new Mamluk palace built on top of the higher of the two entrance towers. The
Ayyubid
The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...
palace was almost completely abandoned during this period. The Mamluk period also administered restoration and preservation projects on the Citadel. The final Mamluk sultan, al-Ashraf
Qansuh al-Ghawri, replaced the flat ceiling of the Throne Hall with nine domes.
[Gonnela, 2008, pp. 19–20]
Ottoman period
![Aleppo Cittadella - GAR - 9-27](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Aleppo_Cittadella_-_GAR_-_9-27.JPG)
During the
Ottoman period, the military role of the citadel as a defense fortress slowly diminished as the city began to grow outside the city walls and was taking its form as a commercial metropolis. The Citadel was still used as a barracks for Ottoman soldiers, although it is not known exactly how many were stationed there. An anonymous Venetian traveler mentions some 2,000 people living in the Citadel in 1556. In 1679, the French consul d’Arvieux reports 1,400 people there, 350 of whom were Janissaries, the elite military corps in the service of the Ottoman Empire.
Sultan Süleyman ordered a restoration of the citadel in 1521.
[Gonnela, 2008, pp. 21–24]
Aleppo and the citadel were heavily damaged in the
earthquake of 1822. After the earthquake only soldiers lived in the citadel.
The Ottoman Governor of the time,
Ibrahim Pasha, used stones from destroyed buildings in the citadel to build a barracks in the north of the crown. It was later restored under the rule of
Sultan Abdülmecid
Abdulmejid I ( ota, عبد المجيد اول, ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i evvel, tr, I. Abdülmecid; 25 April 182325 June 1861) was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the r ...
in 1850–51. A windmill, also on the northern edge of the crown, was probably built around the same time.
French Mandate
Soldiers continued to be stationed in the citadel during the
French Mandate
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (french: Mandat pour la Syrie et le Liban; ar, الانتداب الفرنسي على سوريا ولبنان, al-intidāb al-fransi 'ala suriya wa-lubnān) (1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate foun ...
(1920–45). The French began archaeological excavations and extensive restoration work in the 1930s, particularly on the perimeter wall. The Mamluk Throne Hall was also completely restored during this time and given a new flat roof decorated in 19th-century Damascene style. A modern amphitheater was constructed on a section of an unexcavated surface of the citadel in 1980 to hold events and concerts.
[Gonnela, 2008, p.25]
Modern day
![AleppoCitadel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/AleppoCitadel.jpg)
The citadel in its present form is on a mound, which has an elliptical base with a length of and width of . At the top this ellipse measures by with the height of this slanting foundation measuring . In the past, the entire mound was covered with large blocks of gleaming limestone, some of which still remain today.
The mound is surrounded by a and
moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
, dating from the 12th century. Notable is the fortified gateway, accessible though an arched bridge. This feature was an addition from the
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
government in the 16th century. A succession of five right-angle turns and three large gates (with carved figures) leads to the main inner castle entrance.
In the interior of the Citadel, are the Weapons' Hall, the Byzantine Hall and the Throne Hall, with a restored decorated ceiling. Prior to the
Syrian civil war, the citadel was a tourist attraction and a site of archaeological digs and studies. The
amphitheater
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
was often used for musical concerts or cultural events.
Syrian Civil War
In August 2012, during the
Battle of Aleppo
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
of the
Syrian Civil War, the external gate of the citadel was damaged after being shelled during a clash between the
Free Syrian Army
The Free Syrian Army (FSA) ( ar, الجيش السوري الحر, al-jaysh as-Sūrī al-ḥur) is a loose faction in the Syrian Civil War founded on 29 July 2011 by officers of the Syrian Armed Forces with the goal of bringing down the governm ...
and the
Syrian Army
" (''Guardians of the Homeland'')
, colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive
* Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki
, anniversaries = August 1st
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War
Six ...
to gain control over the citadel. In July 2015, a bomb was set off in a tunnel under one of the outer walls causing further damage to the citadel, in an attempt for the Free Syrian Army to dislodge the Syrian Army.
During the conflict, the
Syrian Army
" (''Guardians of the Homeland'')
, colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive
* Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki
, anniversaries = August 1st
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War
Six ...
used the Citadel as a military base, and according to the opposition fighters, with the walls acting as cover while shelling surrounding areas and ancient arrow slits in walls being used by snipers to target rebels. As a result of this contemporary usage, the Citadel has received significant damage.
Internal sites
![Aleppo citadel Museum laz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Aleppo_citadel_Museum_laz.jpg)
There are many structural remains inside the citadel. Notable sites include:
Entrance block
![Citadel of Aleppo, Aleppo, Syria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Citadel_of_Aleppo%2C_Aleppo%2C_Syria.jpg)
The enormous stone bridge constructed by Sultan Ghazi over the moat led to an imposing
bent entrance
A bent or indirect entrance is a defensive feature in medieval fortification.Adrian Boas, On a Necessary Vulnerability, https://www.adrianjboas.com/post/on-a-necessary-vulnerability In a castle with a bent entrance, the gate passage is narrow and ...
complex. Would-be assailants to the castle would have to take over six turns up a vaulted entrance ramp, over which were
machicolation
A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at t ...
s for pouring hot liquids on attackers from the
mezzanine
A mezzanine (; or in Italian language, Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft ...
above. Secret passageways wind through the complex, and the main passages are decorated with figurative reliefs. The Ayyubid block is topped by the Mamluk "Throne Hall", a hall where Mamluk sultans entertained large audiences and held official functions.
[Gonnela, 2008, pp. 31 35]
Ayyubid Palace and Hammam
Ghazi's "palace of glory" burned down on his wedding night, but it was later rebuilt and today stands as one of the most important and impressive monuments in the citadel crown. The Ayyubids were not the first to build a palace on the citadel. Today, numerous architectural details remain from the Ayyubid period, including an entrance portal with muqarnas, or honeycomb vaulting, and a courtyard on the
four-iwan layout
An iwan ( fa, ایوان , ar, إيوان , also spelled ivan) is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called , a Persian term for a portal projecting ...
, with tiling.
[Gonnela, 2008, pp. 46 48]
Laid out in traditional medieval Islamic style, the palace
hammam
A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited f ...
has three sections. The first was used for dressing, undressing, and resting. The second was an unheated but warmer room, and this was followed by a hot room, and a steam room equipped with alcoves. Hot and cold water was piped through to the hammam with earthenware pipes.
Satura, Hellenistic Well, and underground passages
The construction in the citadel was not confined to above-ground. Several wells penetrate down to 125 m (410 ft) below the surface of the crown. Underground passageways connect to the advance towers and possibly under the moat to the city.
References
Sources
* Julia Gonella, Wahid Khayyata, Kay Kohlmeyer: ''Die Zitadelle von Aleppo und der Tempel des Wettergottes''. Rhema-Verlag, Münster 2005, .
* .
* .
External links
Syrian Ministry of Tourism Arabic section
*
ttp://www.pbase.com/dosseman_syria/aleppocitadel Extensive photo site about the citadel
{{Castles in Syria
1230s establishments in Asia
13th-century establishments in the Ayyubid Sultanate
Aga Khan Trust for Culture projects
Buildings and structures in Aleppo
Castles in Syria
History of Aleppo
Tells (archaeology)
World Heritage Sites in Syria
Forts in Syria