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Aleppo (Halep)

Trip Details

Road Trip 2008 I
Date: Tue, 29/07/2008
Syria
Motorcyclists: Manolis, Ploumisti
Photographers: Manolis, Ploumisti
Authors: Manolis
Translators: Elias

Sightseeing map

One more day was starting at Aleppo. We were near the souks but there wasn’t any noise. We were really tired but we got out of the bed and took the typical Syrian breakfast, which was quite the same with the Turkish one.

We started wondering around the old town centre. Our target was the castle. The market of Aleppo has a huge history. It has more than 60.000 stores! At the beginning there were only 68 stores and their daily sales were bigger than the monthly sales of the stores of Cairo, Egypt!!!

We found many stores, all of them in a closed market. The stores were better than those in Maroko and more authentic than those in the market of Istanbul. And it was the cheapest market of all. The price of the goods is 25% less of the price that products in Greece have.

Arriving at the castle, Citadel, we were disappointed because the castle was closed. Every Tuesday all the archaeological sites and museums in Syria are closed. So we had coffee.

Later we continued walking upwards the hill. We passed the theological school, the old hamam and the courts. We arrived at the outside area of the castle, in a very trading road, Al Khandak. There we found many shops selling the known green soap, for what Aleppo is very famous.

Through the gate of Bad Antakya we got back to the souks. We found a small restaurant with traditional and very cheap, food. The look of the restaurant wasn’t the best, but the food was very tasty. We tried to found a local hamam, but in the end it was very expensive. Before going back to the hotel we went for a walk around the souks. It was like wandering in a different age. Aleppo is a modern town with many old elements.

We decided to go at the castle the next day, prior our departure.

Photogalleries