Old Aleppo Revisited Archives - The Aleppo Project

HOUSE OF POCHE: THEN AND NOW

Nora Palandjian, The Aleppo Project — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 16:56:21 +0000

Photos taken last Friday, February 17, 2017 by Saleh Zakkour show hollowed halls of Khan Al-Nahasin, previously inhabited by coppersmiths at work. The street sign displays the name Adolphe Poche, homage to the Belgian consul of Austrian origin as well as the House of Poche located in the khan. Born in this historic house linking centuries of European travelers and diplomats to the Middle East, the late Madame Jenny Poche, daughter of businessman George Marash and the daughter of Adolphe Poche, most recently inhabited the house. [1] According to an interview with Madame Poche from the summer of 2011, her great-grandfather, a crystal merchant, first arrived in Aleppo from Bohemia in the early 19^th century.[2] The house itself dates back to the 16^th century, even before the arrival of the Poche family, when it first housed the Consul of Venice.

In spring 2013, the Association for the Protection of Syrian Archaeology (APSA) conducted site visits and assessments, documenting the state of the house and, a few months later, moving out transportable objects to be preserved, per the photos below. [3] To display the stark contrast from less than a decade, Andre Yacoubian recently posted the featured before and after photo displaying the house’s interior. The photo from 2009 emits an atmosphere seemingly unchanged over the centuries while the recent photo from 2017 is almost unrecognizable save for the hanging chandelier.

[1] Andrew F. Lawler (July/August 2011). Spine of the Silk Roads. Saudi Aramco World, Vol. 62 No. 4. Available from: http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/201104/spine.of.the.silk.roads.htm

[2] Ibid.

[3] Association for the Protection of Syrian Archeology (2013). Aleppo: Report on the work carried out in the house of Belgian consul in the old city of Aleppo. 05.07.2013. Available from: http://apsa2011.com/apsanew/aleppo-report-on-the-work-carried-out-in-the-house-of-belgian-consul-in-the-old-city-of-aleppo-05-07-2013/

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Old Aleppo Underground

The Aleppo Project — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 13:00:32 +0000

Recent photos of ruins found along Al-Mutanabbi Street (Talaat Al-Bnouk) unearth claims of an ancient underground city. The ruins are located to the west of Sabaa Baharat Square and north of Old Aleppo’s Decumanus connecting the Citadel to the Souq Al-Madina, as we marked on Wikimapia.[1] There is discussion as to whether these ruins date back to Hellenistic or Roman times, or whether they are simply the remains of what once were the lower levels of former buildings submerged under a paved road in the 1930s.

It is not uncommon to uncover remains of underground cities, with Krakow, Barcelona, and Kaymakli (among others in Cappadocia) as just a few examples. Director Khalid Masri features these photos and commentary on the Directorate of Antiquities and Museums of Aleppo Facebook page, calling on citizens to respect the preservation of such historical archaeological findings of Old Aleppo.

[1] Location also featured on the Aleppo Project Map.

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Remnants of Al-Adiliyyah Mosque in Aleppo

The Aleppo Project — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 07:41:06 +0000

Featured on Humans of Aleppo #HoAHistory, group member Muhammad Sle posts recent photos of Al-Adiliyyah Mosque along with historical facts. Built between 963 AH/1555 AD and 965 AH/1557 AD, according to disputing sources, Muhammed describes the mosque’s cylindrical minaret with the length of the side measured at 15.6 meters, built in the square-shaped Ottoman style. He notes the courtyard’s rectangular shape with two entrances, one facing east and one west, and a central basin of water for ablution.

Photos featured on the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums document significant damage to the aesthetics of the mosque’s exterior and interior, including damage to the foundation structure near the minaret, destruction of the dome, and discoloration of the exteriors. Nevertheless, the central basin for ablution and much of the foundation of the prayer hall remain intact. While Al-Adiliyah is in need of extensive repairs, such renovation is critical to the preservation of this mosque of almost six centuries as part of the history of Ottoman architecture as well as that of Aleppo.

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AP Top News: Rebuilding shattered Aleppo will take billions – and peace

The Aleppo Project — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 13:27:57 +0000

With an eye to the future, as well as recent photos and 360 video of the city published on Thursday, February 4, the Associated Press (AP) reports on the conversation surrounding the reconstruction of Aleppo. In their piece Rebuilding shattered Aleppo will take billions – and peace, Bassem Mroue and Sarah El Deeb note, on the one hand, the great risk posed by moving forward with reconstruction without a peace deal in place and, on the other hand, the urgent need to form rebuilding plans for the future of Syria.

In considering the risk, AP quotes Aleppo Project Fellow AlHakam Shaar who stresses the need to bring home exiled Aleppians, saying, “Any rushed reconstruction is dangerous and is likely to cut out the owners or the ex-residents as well.” Moreover, without a peace deal, in addition to excluding former inhabitants from the reconstruction process, the report notes that Western nations would not directly support support the government.

Nonetheless, with an estimate of $350 billion to rebuild Syria, $52 billion of this allocated to Aleppo, and close to one million asylum seekers in the EU, many are eager to move forward in reconstruction efforts. Central to the conversation is whether it will be a coordinated regional effort or not. Notably, through efforts of the UN and the University of Venezia, a group of Syrian architects and artists among others gathered in Beirut are moving forward in brainstorming plans for a future Syria that promote energy efficiency and allow former residents to return in the process.

See images of eastern Aleppo from January 20 and 21 by Hassan Ammar and read the full article here.

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Hotel Baron Revisited

Yahya Al-Abdullah and Nora Palandjian, The Aleppo Project — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 10:50:42 +0000

The first grand hotel of Aleppo, the Hotel Baron is remembered by Aleppians and the world alike for its historical glamor. Founded in 1911, the Baron is known for its famous clientele, including Lawrence of Arabia, Agatha Christie, President Theodore Roosevelt, and President Gamal Abdel Nasser among others. Located on the front line and featured in a number of articles since the start of the war, the Baron was most recently the subject of a BBC Outlook podcast with Mary Mazloumian of the family who founded the hotel. The podcast tells the history of the Baron’s extravagant opening as well as its more humanitarian spirit, with the Mazloumian brothers hosting those fleeing war from the Ottoman Empire.

Although Mary describes the luxury and poshness of the hotel in its heyday, perhaps most striking is her nostalgic account of growing up with it as the center of her world. She recalls the daily details, from her father typing up the menu on a typewriter to the background French music emerging from the record player. She emphasizes not only her connection to the place but also that of the guests, saying, “Our clients used to love coming back because they knew the people who worked there. They’d been there for years. It felt like home to a lot of our guests.”

This holds true even for a newer generation of clientele, including a former regular of the Hotel Baron, Aleppo Project’s own Yahya Al-Abdullah. Yahya, who worked as a part-time tour guide, revisits the space through his most recent memories from 2011, noting the grand staircase, carpet that is 100 years old, bar stocked with with decades-old souvenirs collected over time, and several couches and armchairs that would engulf those who sit in their depth. He illustrates a charm that is aged and preserved with nostalgia for the classic grandeur of the early twentieth century. Upon entering the building and taking a right into the reception, he describes a fairly vacant area adorned with an out-of-use grand piano and the hotel’s archive of celebrity and royalty, remnants preserved in glass shelves, including the framed unpaid bill of Lawrence of Arabia.

Image: Tamo the Bartender, Hotel Baron, Aleppo; Credit: Christophe Satgé

In his description of the layout, Yahya exits the reception and moves into the bar, where the bartender Tamo would serve the perfect gin and tonic but for himself would only ever have whiskey, either on its own or with ice. Yahya shares a picture taken by his friend Christophe Satgé featuring Tamo, described as a sort of caricature of a classic bartender from the 70s who would keep strict order in the bar and send people home at midnight sharp. With either soft jazz music playing in the background or no music at all, the Baron was Yahya’s favorite place to go on the weekends with his friends as well as a must-see destination as part of his tours, which included the citadel and the old market.

At the time, while the hotel was no longer as busy as it once was, Yahya remembers the owner continuing to operate and not being bothered by making money. The owner would come with his huge black dog, sit outside with other older people, and host friends and guests from around the world. By 2014 it became host to displaced families, over 100 years later retaining the warm and hospitable spirit with which it was founded.

Mary’s brother would keep her updated by telephone and stayed in the Baron until his passing in January 2016. To preserve these memories of the Baron, Mary and her sisters plan to collect the stories of clientele past to keep the memory of the hotel alive.

Listen to the full interview with Mary Mazloumian here.

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Al-Madrasa Al-Halawiyah

The Aleppo Project — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 07:34:22 +0000

Old Aleppo Revisited, a new series of biweekly posts on Mondays and Fridays, will feature the abundant authentic new imagery that is coming out on the web. Photos and descriptions are by Aleppians, including non-specialists, architects, and cultural heritage experts, who stayed in Western Aleppo and for the first time since late 2012 were able to visit these locations.

As an introduction to Old Aleppo Revisited, architect Louay Dakhel shares with us his analysis of the architectural effects on Al-Madrasa Al-Halawiyah, with much of its construction dating back to the Byzantine era, modestly featured on Facebook through photos he took on January 3, 2017.
He observes that about 95% of the structure is intact, with limited damage to a small part of one of the Byzantine columns in the prayer hall and just part of the half dome above these columns, as well as bullet marks on the external walls of the courtyard. Dakhel assesses that this minimal damage has no effect on its foundation and could easily be restored. Likewise, he notes that the Ayyubid mihrab is fully preserved behind a wall built for this purpose. He discerns the greatest effect to be on the woodwork, glass, and iron details, which have completely lost their architectural character.

Nevertheless, he concludes optimistically that it is possible to remove the effects of the fire on the Byzantine columns and the external hallway. His photos and analysis provide a priceless and hopeful glimpse into the preservation and future restoration of one of the oldest buildings in Aleppo.

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