Rehabilitation and reconstruction of the old Aleppo markets still under way

Active joint efforts have been undertaken by the Old Aleppo City Directorate, the Syria Trust for Development and the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums in cooperation with the Aga Khan Foundation for Culture to complete the restoration and rehabilitation of the old Aleppo markets and to eliminate the destruction of large parts of the city as a result of the terrorist attack on the city during the years of the war.

The Director of the Old City of Aleppo, Eng. Ahmed Al-Shihabi, indicated in a statement to SANA that the markets of Khan Al-Harir, Al-Habal, Al Ahmadiyya and Al-Fistok Square have been restored so far, while restoration work is currently underway in the eastern part of Al-Saqatiya market, which has 31 shops, pointing that the old Aleppo markets have 38 archaeological markets and contain khans and Qaisriyat, a form of old businesses with an area of 16 hectares.

Al-Shihabi noted that a strategy has been developed, including the revival of old commercial markets and the focus on the straight road that starts from Bab Antakya Market west to Al Zarb Market overlooking Aleppo Castle in the east.

The Director of the Initial Legal Response Program of the Syria Trust for Development, Lawyer Bashar Eskif, referred to the community role of the Syria Trust in the markets being restored, through  communicating with the owners of the shops who give inside information about the condition of the markets to know their urban, cultural, social and service realities.Then committees are formed that  represent the commercial activities of these markets, identify their needs and establish a database with the aim of restoring their elegance and activating their commercial movement.

Eskif said that there are initiatives for commercial activities and people to restore their shops in Khan al-Qasabiya, Qaysariyya Al-Jalabi, Al-Haddadin and Istanbul Al-Jadeed markets.

Eng. Mohammed Halabiya of the supervisory body of the Aga Khan Foundation for Cultural Services indicated that restoration work in the old city of Aleppo began with the Souq al- Saqatiya project in 2018, which won the ICCROM Award in Sharjah for good practices in the conservation, protection and restoration of cultural heritage in the Arab region, and includes 53 shops. ” The issuance of Legislative Decree No. 13 of 2022 with its facilities and exemptions that provides a supportive environment for all the economic activities within the Old City in the governorates of Aleppo, Homs and Deir Ez-Zor, has facilitated restoration work and encouraged economic and commercial activities in these markets to work towards the restoration of production, industry and commercial movement of Old City markets,” Halabiya concluded.

A number of shop owners in the old Aleppo markets stated that the facilities and exemptions covered by Decree 13 were unprecedented and that they included the installations, workshops, shops and residential homes within the administrative borders of the old cities in the three governorates, In addition, those who took the initiative to return and operate their shops were granted financial privileges to accelerate their return, in preparation for an increasingly rapid return of the economic life to old cities.

Amal Farhat