Aleppo Guide: The Citadel, Souqs, Khans and the Levant's Great Food City
What to see in Aleppo: the Citadel, the covered souqs, the Great Mosque, the caravanserais and laurel soap — and where to eat kibbeh and cherry kebab, with visiting tips.
Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and was for centuries a great stop on the trade routes between the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia and India. You see that trade in every stone of the old city: a citadel on a hill, covered souqs and merchants' inns below it, and a kitchen many call the richest in the Levant.
The Citadel
The Citadel of Aleppo crowns a mound in the heart of the city, reached over a stone bridge that ends at a massive gateway. Inside are the remains of palaces, baths, a mosque and a theatre, and from the walls you look out over the whole city. The old city was badly damaged during the war years and restoration is ongoing in many places — check which sites are open when you arrive.
Souqs and khans
Below the Citadel the covered souqs spread in a network said to run for more than ten kilometres in total: a market for cloth, one for spices, one for soap and gold. Between them stand khans, the inns where merchants lodged with their caravans, such as Khan al-Wazir and Khan al-Saboun, with carved stone façades.
This is also the home of Aleppo laurel soap, stacked in cubes that dry for months before they are sold.
The Great Mosque
Near the souqs stands the Great Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo, founded in the Umayyad era and rebuilt many times. Its famous Seljuk minaret collapsed in 2013, and work to restore the mosque and rebuild it is under way.
Aleppo's kitchen
Do not leave without eating. The city is famous for dozens of kinds of kibbeh, for cherry kebab cooked with sour cherries, for muhammara and Aleppo pepper. We gave it a whole article.
Getting there and around
Aleppo is about 350 km north of Damascus; the road runs through Homs and Hama, so you can break the drive and stop at the norias of Hama. Aleppo International Airport has flights from several cities.
- From Damascus
- About 350 km, 4–5 hours by car
- Suggested stay
- At least two days
- Don't miss
- The Citadel, the souqs, kibbeh
- To buy
- Laurel soap and Aleppo pistachios
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