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Off the Beaten Path in Aleppo

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Off the Beaten Path in Aleppo

Tips and photos of unusual, out-of-the-way Aleppo attractions, posted by real travelers and locals.
Local Time 2:24 am Saturday, July 26, 2008
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Aleppo Off the Beaten PathTips 21 - 30 of 99  
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Ain Dara: Dead Cities, Part X
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  • By atufft on March 26, 2006
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  • Ain Dara Temple Interior - Aleppo
    Ain Dara Temple Interior
    by atufft, 4 more photos
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    At the time we were there, attempts to shelter the fragile ruins was underway. Sheet metal shelters for some stonework was in place, and along the edge of the hill a concrete wall with columns was underconstruction. The Ain Dara limestone is very heavily eroded, and even the durable black basalt stone is fragmenting. Some deliberate defacement of the Lion faces is fairly clear, although I didn't learn whether this was the work of zealous Christians or Muslims who invaded the area in subsequent epochs. There's also a mystery at Ain Dara--the mystery of four Big Foot prints which leading toward the temple center. The purpose of this is not clear. Ain Dara is unlike any other temple, and has a nice view of the Afrin River Valley below. Given the emphasis on lions, it would appear that lions once roamed Syria, although they have been extinct in this region for probably at least a millenium.

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  • Website: http://www.syriagate.com/Syria/about/cities/Aleppo/ain_dara.htm

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    Qalaat Samaan: Dead Cities, Part VI
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  • By atufft on March 26, 2006
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  • Cloister with View of Valley Below - Aleppo
    Cloister with View of Valley
    Below
    by atufft, 4 more photos
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    Byzantine soldiers took San Simeon's body back to Antioch and later to Constantinople, but the Stylite monastism flourished, resulting in the building not only of the huge four basilica cathedral, but also a number of buildings devoted to housing students, performing baptisms, and sheltering the horses.

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    day trips: Byzantine basilica
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  • Updated By TheWanderingCamel on April 14, 2005
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  • The Heart of the Almond - Aleppo
    The Heart of the Almond
    by TheWanderingCamel
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    Possibly the best preserved of all the Dead City churches stands alone in the middle of a Druze village in the far west of Syria, about 65km from Aleppo. This is Qalb Lozeh (trans. Heart of the Almond, built approx. 470AD) and it is one of the most famous, if the most isolated, of all the Byzantine remains in the country. Here the building stands three stories high in places with two towers flanking the entrance, the dome of the apse in very good condition and even some of the roof remaining. There is fine carving to be seen decorating the interior and evidence of elegant window treatment - overall the effect is one of light and grace.

    The village is poor with nothing else really to see or do, but the road out there crosses a clear section of the original Roman road and there are good remains of other Dead Cities, notably Barqera, along the way. There is a campsite at Kaddour and restaurants in Harim. With your own car it is perfectly possible to combine a trip to Qalb Lozeh with a visit to St Simeon.

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    Afrin River Valley Agriculture
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  • Updated By atufft on March 26, 2006
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  • Afrin River View - Aleppo
    Afrin River View
    by atufft, 4 more photos
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    The Afrin River flows though the Dead Cities region, providing irrigation for olive orchards and seasonal crops. The soil is a red color, and given that the region has been farmed from the dawn of time, it must be quite rich. The horse is still used in places to plow small farms, although we did find some larger mechanized farms on the richer soils near the river. Water wars between Turkey and Syria balance against Syria, which has faced droughts in many years. The roads between villages here are rarely paved. The region is home to a large Kurdish population. The last image here is a stray from the Dier Semaan collection showing the ruins of the entrance arch.

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  • Website: http://www.pef.org.uk/EarlySyriaPages/Afrin%20Valley.htm

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    Qalaat Samaan: Dead Cities, Part VII
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  • By atufft on March 26, 2006
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  • San Simeon Stables - Aleppo
    San Simeon Stables
    by atufft, 4 more photos
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    These are miscellaneous views not fit in the earlier tips. There is one more point. San Simeon originally was expelled from the monestary at Dier Semaan, which is just down the hill. Thus, when expelled, San Simeon climbed higher into the hills and began his more severe type of ascetism. So, included here are introductory images for Dier Semaan, the next stop on the Dead Cities Tour.

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    Qalaat Samaan: Dead Cities, Part V
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  • By atufft on March 26, 2006
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  • Christian Symbols in Carved Stone - Aleppo
    Christian Symbols in Carved
    Stone
    by atufft, 4 more photos
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    These images are close-ups of the San Simeon architectural features and early Byzantine art. Note the use of Roman style arches and yet this construction is somewhat more sophisticated. The Dead Cities Tour of San Simeon continues with the views of other buildings that were part of the Stylite monestary.

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    day trips: Lake Assad
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  • Updated By TheWanderingCamel on April 25, 2005
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  • Blue is the colour of heaven - Aleppo
    Blue is the colour of heaven
    by TheWanderingCamel
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    The project of the Ath Thawra Dam that created Lake Assad is the biggest engineering work ever undertaken in Syria. The lake is huge -4.5km long, it measures 80km around its rim and 8km at it widest point.
    Whatever the environmental politics of great dam projects like this are, this one does seem to be quite successful with few negative effects. What the impact in Syria of Turkey's damming of the Euphrates will be remains to be seen, but it is of great concern.

    There's not a great deal to see here beyond a vast stretch of brilliant blue water. Qala'at Jaber stands on the northern rim but ,apart from the heavily restored walls, there's little here but rubble.

    The lake is probably best viewed as part of a visit to Resafa.

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    covered souq: The covered Souk.
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  • Updated By albateh on August 28, 2003
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  • Aleppo Off the Beaten Path
    by albateh
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    A visit to the souk thus enables the tourist to discover something of the town's everyday life and at the same time see monuments which are often no longer used (the madrassas and bimarstans for example) but whose design and decoration is extremely interesting.
    Along the main axis from Bab Antakia to the Citadel just about every possible kind of goods are offered for sale - food, clothing, perfumes, shoes...

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    day trips: the dead city of Serjilla
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  • Updated By call_me_rhia on January 12, 2003
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  • detail of the dead city of serjilla - Aleppo
    detail of the dead city of
    serjilla
    by call_me_rhia
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    Serjilla... a very eerie Dead Cities, possibly the most spooky one. The landscape all around it is quite barren and bare, with plenty of rocks scattered all about... when I was there a mysterious mist set in - the place turned charmingly ghostly - really a perfect weather to explore a Dead City. In the area south of Aleppo there are over 600 such cities - all Bizantine in origin, all abandoned in haste for no apparent reason, all worth a visit, too. It's hard to get there by public transportation, unless you are prepared to hitch-hike or walk for a significant stretch: a taxi is recommended.

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    covered souq: The covered Souq
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  • By albateh on August 28, 2003
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  • What does it matter if tinned goods and plastics are displayed beside freshly gathered vegetables and traditional spices piled up in great gaily colored heaps, if western detergents rub shoulder with red and green beeswax candles; if in the narrow passageway that is the al Irakich souk reserved for the rope-makers, peasants and the last of the camel drivers hesitate between hemp and nylon....

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