SomeThing Historic

Citadel of Aleppo

  • UNESCO World Heritage
  • Citadel
  • Main walls c. 1200, on a hill used since about 3000 BCE
  • Az-Zahir Ghazi, son of Saladin; later the Mamluks

One of the oldest and largest castles in the world, on a hill above Aleppo.

Read the story View on map
Built
Main walls c. 1200, on a hill used since about 3000 BCE
Built by
Az-Zahir Ghazi, son of Saladin; later the Mamluks
Location
Aleppo, Syria
UNESCO
Listed 1986

The story

In the middle of Aleppo rises a huge, partly man-made hill, wrapped in a stone slope and a deep moat. Excavations have found a temple of the ancient storm god on its summit dating back thousands of years, so this hill has been a sacred and royal place since about 3000 BCE.

Most of what stands today was built by az-Zahir Ghazi, a son of Saladin who ruled Aleppo around 1200. He gave the citadel its sloping glacis, its bridge and its mighty gateway, which twists several times to slow down attackers. After the Mongols and later Timur damaged it, the Mamluk sultans repaired it.

The citadel is part of the Ancient City of Aleppo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986. It was damaged during the Syrian war and by the 2023 earthquake, and restoration work continues.

Must-see

  1. The great entrance block and bridge over the moat
  2. The Ayyubid palace and its hall
  3. The throne hall built by the Mamluks
  4. The view across the rooftops of old Aleppo

Through the ages

  1. c. 3000 BCE A temple stands on the hill
  2. c. 1200 Az-Zahir Ghazi rebuilds the citadel
  3. 1260 Damaged by the Mongols
  4. 1986 Listed by UNESCO with the Ancient City of Aleppo
  5. 2023 Damaged by the earthquake

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