Aleppo

:Aleppo is also the name of two townships in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. See: Aleppo Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and Aleppo Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania.

Related Topics:
Pennsylvania - Aleppo Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania - Aleppo Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania

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Aleppo (or Halab, حلب Arabic meaning "Fresh Milk") is a city and province in northern Syria. The city has a population of around 1.7 million (1999), making it the second largest city in the country after Damascus. It is one of the oldest cities in the region, known to antiquity as Khalpe and to the Greeks as Beroea, and occupies a strategic trading point midway between the sea and the Euphrates; initially, it was built on a small group of hills in a wide fertile valley on both sides of the river Quweiq. The province or governate extends around the city for over 16,000 km² and has around 3.7 million inhabitants.

Related Topics:
Arabic - Syria - 1999 - Damascus - Greeks - Euphrates - Quweiq

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There is a relatively clear division between old and new Aleppo. The older portions were contained within a wall, 3 miles in circuit with seven gates. The medieval castle in the city is built atop a huge partially artificial mound rising 50 m above the city, the current structure dates from the 13th century and had been extensively damaged by earthquakes, notably in 1822.

Related Topics:
Castle - 13th century - 1822

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The Name Halab means milk, coming from the ancient tradition that Abraham gave out milk to travelers as they traveled throughout the region. The city had a large Jewish population from ancient times, by legend since the period of King David. The great synagogue housed the famous Aleppo codex, dated back to the ninth century. The codex is now housed in Jerusalem and Aleppo's Jewish residents, for various economic and political reasons, have moved abroad.

Related Topics:
Abraham - Jewish - King David - Synagogue - Aleppo codex - Jerusalem

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The city has many mosques including the Madrasa Halawiya. A temple that once stood on the site was rebuilt as Aleppo's great Byzantine cathedral founded by Saint Helena, mother of Constantine the Great which contains a tomb associated with Zachary, father of John the Baptist. During the Crusades, when the invaders pillaged the surrounding countryside, the city's chief judge converted St. Helena's cathedral into a mosque, and in the middle of the 12th century the famous leader Nur al-Din founded the madrasa or religious school that has encompassed the former cathedral.

Related Topics:
Mosque - Madrasa Halawiya - Byzantine - Saint Helena - Constantine the Great - Zachary - John the Baptist - Crusade - 12th century - Nur al-Din - Madrasa

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The Jami al-Kabir "Great Mosque" was originally built by the Umayyads, although the present structure begun for Nur al-Din dates from 1158 and a rebuilding after the Mongol invasion of 1260. As an ancient trading centre, Aleppo also has impressive suqs (shopping streets) and khan (commercial courtyards). The city was significantly redesigned after World War II; in 1952 the French architect Andre Gutton had a number of wide new roads cut through the city to allow modern traffic easier passage. In the 1970s, large parts of the older city were demolished to allow for the construction of modern flat blocks.

Related Topics:
Jami al-Kabir - Umayyads - Nur al-Din - 1158 - Mongol - 1260 - World War II - 1952 - Andre Gutton - 1970s

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The main role of the city was as a trading place, it sat at the crossroads of two trade routes and mediated the trade from India, the Tigris and Euphrates regions and the route coming from Damascus in the South, which traced the base of the mountains rather than the rugged seacoast. Although trade was often directed away from the city for political reasons, it continued to thrive until the Europeans began to use the Cape route to India and later to utilise the route through Egypt to the Red Sea. Since then the city has declined and its chief exports now are the agricultural products of the surrounding region, mainly wheat and cotton, pistachios, olives and sheep.

Related Topics:
India - Tigris - Euphrates - Damascus - Cape route - Egypt - Red Sea - Wheat - Cotton - Pistachios - Olives - Sheep

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