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Tour Tour 1 - around the city of Aleppo

Aleppo al-Shahba is an ancient city as old as history itself. It was mentioned in history for the first time about four thousand five hundred years ago - that is, since the middle of the third millennium BC - when it was a thriving metropolis in the third millennium BC, and the city reached its zenith during the era of the Hamdanids (944-1003 AD), as it is the city of Saif al-Dawla al-Hamdani, It also flourished for a short period in the days of Nur al-Din al-Zanki (the twelfth century AD), but it was exposed to events of devastation and destruction several times, some of them due to the Mongol invasion (1260 AD and 1400 AD) and others due to earthquakes, especially the earthquakes of 1128 AD and 1822 AD. Until the beginning of the current century, the city Aleppo, its buildings were spread to the east of the Queiq River, the old city. However, it is worth noting that the first ancient city inside the first main wall remained within it until the beginning of the thirteenth century AD, to be exited from the old wall expanding east and south to enclose another area in its own gates. Next to the doors in the first wall - Figure (23).. Expansion of the wall of that time with

Aleppo is a city known to the Hittites, the Mitannians, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, and it was conquered by the Arab Muslims in 637 AD, and it fell under the Ottoman and French rule.

Significant in the aftermath of the country's independence in 1946, expanding in all directions around the Old City. The expansion has reached its maximum since the early seventies, especially to the west of the Queiq River and towards the north, until today it has become a large and spacious city, the extension occupies an area of ​​about 300 square kilometers, extending north-south about 17 km and east-west about 11 km, and it has about 1.3 million people living in it. It is about 350 km away from Damascus, about 55 km from the current border with Turkey in the north, and it is about 75 km from the Euphrates River, and it is a commercial center for the north and north-east of Syria and the northern Syrian desert, and the northern gate of Syria to the European world.

In addition to its administrative function as a governorate center, it has a cultural and scientific function represented by its historical, archaeological and modern schools, institutes, its famous university, and its various other cultural institutions. It is also the second industrial center in Syria after Damascus, so that we find it distinguished from Damascus by some industries, as in the textile industries and some chemical industries - such as the soap industry.

Aleppo is rich in antiquities dating back to different eras, dominated by the effects of the Arab-Islamic period. The Citadel of Aleppo comes at the forefront of the historical monuments that have given Aleppo great tourist importance, so that no one visits Aleppo without having its castle in front of his eyes. Among the most important historical sites that tourists should visit are the following: Busur

1 - The Citadel of Aleppo is located in the center of the old city, standing on an artificial hill with a wide area (375 x 273 m at the top and 550 by 350 m at the bottom). Yazid

Its height is more than 45 m from its surroundings. It is an old castle that was rebuilt during the reign of Prince Saif al-Dawla al-Hamdani, and a lot was added to it in the eras that followed, the last of which was the tower standing from the south to the left of the castle door, which dates back to the late fifteenth century AD. The Citadel of Aleppo is one of the most important historical buildings that tourists visit, and they spend many hours around it, enjoying their sights in its spaces and halls, and exploring the picturesque views of the city and its spacious plains that surround it.

The castle consists of a continuous stone wall that takes the form of a hill, and six towers that reinforce the wall (the first and second towers, the southern slope tower, the northern slope tower, and the prominent tower) and the castle bridge consisting of eight stone arches, and the seven gates of the Serpents Gate, the Lions Gate, the third gate, and the fourth door Bab al-Jabal, the northern door, and Bab al-Sir) and the castle halls (the Great Defense Hall and the First Defense Hall, the defense rooms and warehouses, the great underground hall that is descended to by a stairway and has been called Hebes al-Badam, the Throne Hall, and the royal palace next to two mosques (Ibrahim Al-Khalil Mosque, whose construction dates back to To the era of Nur al-Din Zangi in 1162 AD, and the mosque that was built during the era of al-Zahir Ghazi in 1210 AD.) To the east of the Great Mosque, there is Ibrahim Pasha’s barracks, next to several water wells and water storage tanks, and a large bathroom consisting of ten rooms equipped with pottery pipes for hot and cold water. A small museum of its antiquities was built within the castle

2- The ancient walls and gates of Aleppo:

Aleppo was surrounded by impregnable walls of strong stones, with several gates permeated by it