 | Aleppo souqs Reviews | Tips 11 - 20 of 31 |  |
Give at least half a day to thoroughly explore the souq and get lost - much less hassle than Turkey and facinating to see a working market rather than a tourist trap Leave a Comment
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 | |  |  | souqs: The Souks of Aleppo | Tip Rating:    |  |  | |  |
Aleppo's souk is the best in Syria and perhaps the whole of the middle east. An entire day or more could be dedicated to exploring intriguing shops in a narrow grid of alleys with vaulted ceilings and stalactite domes, set along the straight roads that were once the Roman cardo maximus and decumanus maximus. Although the souk has existed since ancient times, much of what the visitor sees from an architectural perspective dates from the 13th to the 19th centuries. Much like Damascus, Aleppo is considered a "desert port" due to its location near the edge of the Syrian desert. It has thus served a terminal for desert caravans along trade routes, specifically, the Silk Road which passed through Asia and Mesopotamia. Aleppo's rise or fall throughout its history has been linked to the Silk Road. When the Romans conquered the eastern Mediterranean, Aleppo witnessed a slow decline as trade routes were diverted further south through Palmyra and into Antioch. It wasn't until the 13th century, when a treaty was signed between the Ayyubid rulers and the Republic of Venice to allow merchants from la Serenissima to settle and trade in Aleppo, that the city saw a renewed apogee. This zenith continued under the Mamlukes and Ottomans, as other European merchants followed the Venetians, but it came to an end with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 as trade routes moved to sea. The attached photos show some of the scenes in the souk of Aleppo. For more photos, click on the travelogue: "Shopping in the Aleppo Souk". Address: Old AleppoDirections: From the Citadel to Bab Antakya, south of the Omayyad Mosque
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| | | | souqs: ...and then there's the SOUQ! | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Arguably, the souq is Aleppo's biggest attraction - even eclipsing the gigantic fairytale Citadel and the very atmospheric Al Jdeida quarters. It may lack the grandeur of Istanbul's Kapali Carsi (Grand Bazaar), and the rough-as-guts charm of Cairo's Khan el-Khalili, but it certainly is most authentic, charming, even exuding a deep sensuality that comes from a complete assault of the five senses: colorful aromatic spices, glittering gold, roaring motorbikes, unceasing honking from delivery vans, smell of raw blood from butchers' stalls only to be masked by powerful Arabic scents from the nearby perfumeries, lathery olive oil soaps, furry carpets, sweetness from unadulterated organic honey and the tastiest shawarmas (Arabic sandwich) on the planet! Hands down, this is my favorite in all Aleppo. It's amazing how one of the most basic forms of social interaction, i.e. shopping/commerce, could be as entertaining and engrossing as this. The beauty behind Aleppo's souq is its authenticity - almost everything is geared for local trade, and souvenir shops for tourists are a rarity (think Khan el-Khalili in Cairo), as are pushy carpet salesmen (think Kapali Carsi in Istanbul). To gain a different perspective of the souq, try coming here on a Friday as well, when almost every shop closes for the holy Islamic Friday. The whole place takes on a different aura - somber with a straight-from-a-horror-movie mood. But it gives you the chance to see that the souq - with its Ottoman motif - is in itself an attraction. Please do visit my travelogues for more images from the souq. Leave a Comment
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