Aleppo Ancient Covered Souks
Explore the extraordinary covered souks of Aleppo, stretching 13 kilometers through the old city, once the largest covered market complex in the world and a center of Silk Road trade for over a thousand years.
- 1
Souk al-Zarb
Enter the Souk al-Zarb, the textile market, where the ancient trade in fabrics that made Aleppo wealthy continues in the vaulted stone lanes, the merchants of silk, cotton, and traditional textiles in a direct line from the medieval Silk Road traders.
- 2
Khan al-Wazir
Visit Khan al-Wazir, the finest of the Aleppo khans, its elaborately decorated facade with striped ablaq stonework representing the height of 17th century Ottoman merchant architecture, the caravanserai where long-distance traders stayed and traded.
- 3
Soap Market
Find the soap market where the famous Aleppo soap, made from olive oil and laurel berry oil, is sold in large cubes that turn green after curing, the recipe unchanged for over 2,000 years in what may be the oldest commercially produced soap in the world.
- 4
Spice Souk
Inhale the extraordinary fragrance of the spice souk where the unique Aleppo spice blend with the distinctive flavor of the Aleppo pepper, the mildly hot red pepper grown in the surrounding countryside, perfumes the entire market.
- 5
Gold Souk
Browse the gold souk where jewelers display the elaborate Syrian gold work in traditional patterns that have been refined over centuries, the concentration of precious metal working in a single lane a legacy of the medieval guild organization of the market.
- 6
Reconstruction and Revival
See the souk reconstruction underway, the damaged sections of the market being rebuilt from documentation and memory as Aleppo merchants return to reopen businesses in the ancient commercial lanes their families operated for generations.
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