Citadel of Aleppo Syria

Citadel of Aleppo Syria
Aleppo, one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, contains relics from more than four millennia of Near Eastern history. Aleppo's Citadel is a highly interwoven microcosm of the city's long and complicated history. The Ayyubids built the majority of the structures on the citadel in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, but there are also significant structures during the Ottoman period. The citadel was constructed on a natural limestone outcropping that rose 100 feet above the plain below.

Its lofty walls, majestic entry bridge, and massive gateway are all still standing and dominate the city's skyline. A series of invasions, earthquakes, and natural corrosion caused by exposure to the elements have harmed the fabric of the citadel's inner areas within its walls. Significant remnants of a Bronze Age neo-Hittite temple, in use for the majority of the third and second millennia B.C., were recently discovered during excavations. The temple is embellished with a complex system of reliefs that represent deities and exotic creatures and are an important addition to Syria's historical record.