Citadel of Aleppo

The Citadel of Aleppo (Arabic: قلعة حلب, romanized: Qalʿat Ḥalab) is a large medieval fortified palace in the centre of the old city of Aleppo, northern Syria. 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 time – including the Arameans, Assyrians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs (Umayyads, Abbasids, etc.), Ayyubids, Mamluks and Ottomans – 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, in collaboration with Aleppo Archeological Society.

Dominating the city, the Citadel is part of the Ancient City of Aleppo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986. During the 2010s, the Citadel received significant damage during the lengthy Battle of Aleppo. It was reopened to the public in early 2018 with repairs to damaged parts underway, though some of the damage will be purposefully preserved as part of the history of the citadel. The citadel was damaged by the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake.

Text adapted from “Citadel of Aleppo” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Citadel of Aleppo ranks #308 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #2 of the 37 mapped in Syria. Founded 1150, it is older than 82% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 544 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 12,277 times in the last 60 days, more than 94% of the atlas. The nearest day-trip guide is Idlib, 56 km away. It is one of the 109 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Levant. See how Syria compares in the castle statistics.

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