Citadel of Aleppo
Aleppo, Syria
Open to visitors
The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.
Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.
Find out more
The Citadel of Aleppo is a massive medieval fortified palace occupying a strategic hilltop in the center of Aleppo's old city, northern Syria. Though the site's occupation extends back to at least the mid-third millennium BC, the castle's primary construction dates to the Ayyubid period, with its limestone walls built around 1150. Over centuries, it served successive rulers—Arameans, Assyrians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Mamluks, and Ottomans—each leaving their mark on this one of the world's oldest and largest castles. The Citadel underwent extensive conservation by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in the 2000s and is part of Aleppo's UNESCO World Heritage Site designation since 1986. It sustained considerable damage during the 2010s Battle of Aleppo and the 2023 earthquake, though deliberate preservation of some scars now documents the structure's recent history alongside its ancient past. The site reopened to the public in early 2018.
- Built
- Type
- castle, tell
- Materials
- limestone
- Place
- Aleppo, Syria
This building on
Architecturally similar
Citadel of DamascusDamascus, Syria
Alara CastleAlanya, Turkey
Citadel of Salah Ed-DinAl-Haffah, Syria
Walls of JerusalemJerusalem, Israel
Khusrawiyya MosqueAleppo, Syria
Bab al-FarajAleppo, Syria
Roman Theatre at PalmyraPalmyra, Syria
Great Colonnade at PalmyraPalmyra, Syria
Location