Al-Hatab Square

File:Al-Hatab Square 01.jpg

In 1400, the Mongol-Turkic leader Tamerlane captured the city of Aleppo from the Mamluks and massacred many of its inhabitants.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ASDcBAAAQBAJ&q=Runciman+tamerlane+aleppo&pg=PA129|title=A History of the Laws of War: Volume 3: The Customs and Laws of War with Regards to Arms Control|last=Gillespie|first=Alexander|date=2011-10-07|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=9781847318411|pages=129|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QL88AAAAIAAJ&q=1400&pg=PA435|title=A History of the Crusades|last=Runciman|first=Steven|date=1987-12-03|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=9780521347716|pages=463|language=en}} After the withdrawal of the Mongols, the Muslim population returned to Aleppo.{{Cite web|url=http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Battle%20of%20Aleppo|title=Battle of Aleppo - Everything2.com|website=everything2.com|access-date=2016-12-09}} In contrast the Christian residents, unable to resettle in their own city quarters, established a new neighbourhood just to the north of the city walls in the early 1420s.{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}} This area became known as Aleppo's al-Jdeydeh (Jdeideh) Quarter (for "new district" in Arabic).{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bMbmDAAAQBAJ&q=ross+history+aleppo&pg=PT1|title=Aleppo: A History|last=Burns|first=Ross|date=2016-08-25|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134844081|pages=197|language=en}}{{Cite journal|last=David|first=Jean-Claude|title=L'espace des chrétiens à Alep. Ségrégation et mixité, stratégies communautaires (1750-1850)|url=http://www.persee.fr/doc/remmm_0997-1327_1990_num_55_1_2340|journal=Revue du monde musulman et de la Méditerranée|year=1990|language=fr-FR|volume=55|issue=1|pages=150–170|doi=10.3406/remmm.1990.2340}}

Al-Hatab Square became the centre of this newly established quarter and was surrounded by many churches, hammams, khans, caravanserais and caeserias.Caeserias were small marketplace (smaller than khans) and were also craftsmen's workshops.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=efp53UAQ6bIC&q=bruce+masters+aleppo+caravan+city&pg=PA39|title=The Ottoman City Between East and West: Aleppo, Izmir, and Istanbul|last1=Eldem|first1=Edhem|last2=Goffman|first2=Daniel|last3=Masters|first3=Bruce|date=1999-11-11|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521643047|pages=39–40|language=en}} Many Christians chose this area as a number of fifteenth century churches had been located there.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bMbmDAAAQBAJ&q=aleppo+a+history+burns&pg=PT5|title=Aleppo: A History|last=Burns|first=Ross|date=2016-08-25|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134844081|pages=179, 231–2|language=en}} A number of structures here were built on earlier Byzantine foundations. By the seventeenth century, a mosque (al-Sharaf Mosque), and sprawling waqf complex with shops and coffee house were established near there to help service the local inhabitants and visitors. Many Armenians also settled in the area as early as the 1600s to develop the growing silk trade with Persia.Ross Burns & Stefan Knost (2020) "[https://lisa.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/introduction?nav_id=8822&publication=1 Judayda Churches | كنائس الجْدَيْدِة]". L.I.S.A. WISSENSCHAFTSPORTAL GERDA HENKEL STIFTUNG (in English and Arabic).

The square and khans quickly became one of the busiest commercial hubs of the city.{{Cite book|title=Syria|last=Darke|first=Diana|date=2010-01-01|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=9781841623146|language=en}} Many European traders would also come to do business here as many of their local agents and translators lived in this area.{{Cite news|url=https://en.qantara.de/content/christians-in-aleppo-rumblings-beneath-the-surface|title=Christians in Aleppo: Rumblings beneath the Surface - Qantara.de|work=Qantara.de - Dialogue with the Islamic World|access-date=2017-03-23|language=en}}

The 1850 massacre of Christians and others in Aleppo also originated in and around Al-Hatab Square.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wpBWAgAAQBAJ&q=1850%20massacre%20aleppo&pg=PA34|title=Historical Dictionary of Syria|last1=Commins|first1=David|last2=Lesch|first2=David W.|date=2013-12-05|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810879669|language=en}}

File:Russian Film Set (48703404).jpg

File:Al-Hatab square Jdeydeh.jpg

By 2011 Sahat al Hatab square, and the Jdeideh neighbourhood around it, had underdone a revitalisation process.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/27/arts/design/27preserve.html|title=Preserving Heritage, and the Fabric of Life, in Syria|last=Ourousseff|first=Nicolai|work=The New York Times|date=26 December 2010|access-date=27 December 2016}} It became home to many boutique hotels housed in historic buildings such as the Zamaria House,{{Cite web|url=http://heartoforient.blogspot.com.es/2012/09/aleppo-burns-dar-zamaria-sisi-house-and.html|title=Aleppo Burns – Dar Zamaria, Sisi House and much of Souq reported Burned- Syria Comment|last=Atlioglu|first=Dr Yasin|date=2012-09-30|website=Orient|access-date=2017-01-01}} museums such as the Beit Ghazaleh and Beit Achiqbash, and number of noted restaurants that celebrated the local cuisine.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZqdbdFnRv_kC&q=gentrification+of+al+hatab+square&pg=PA217|title=Harem Histories: Envisioning Places and Living Spaces|last=Booth|first=Marilyn|date=2010-01-01|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0822348696|pages=217–8|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jv2jHT_GRe0C&q=jdeideh+restaurants+aleppo&pg=PA185|title=Syria|last=Darke|first=Diana|date=2010-01-01|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=9781841623146|pages=185|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Beehner|first=Lionel|date=2010-01-22|title=Tourists Return to an Ancient Crossroads in Syria|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/travel/24next.html|access-date=2020-08-21|issn=0362-4331}}

The square, which had once been built over with trader's sheds, was rehabilitated as a shared and open public space.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZqdbdFnRv_kC&q=al+hatab+square+heritage&pg=PA218|title=Harem Histories: Envisioning Places and Living Spaces|last=Booth|first=Marilyn|date=2010-01-01|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0822348696|pages=218|language=en}}{{Cite journal|last=Jaber|first=Sylvia|year=2013|title=Dissertation -- Urban streets : towards sustainable mobility in Arabic cities|url=http://elib.uni-stuttgart.de/handle/11682/117|journal=Universität Stuttgart 01 Fakultät Architektur und Stadtplanung|pages=318|doi=10.18419/opus-100 |via=Online Publikationen der Universität Stuttgart}} Its expanse, and the streets around it, went on to foster a vibrant mix of Syrian families and foreign tourists.{{Cite web|url=http://imad_moustapha.blogs.com/my_weblog/page/3/|title=Weblog of a Syrian Diplomat in China|website=Weblog of a Syrian Diplomat in China|access-date=2017-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226145423/http://imad_moustapha.blogs.com/my_weblog/page/3/|archive-date=2016-12-26|url-status=dead}}{{Cite book|title=Changes in the nature of governance of public spaces in the historic city centre|last=Haddad|first=Rema George|publisher=Dissertation Heriot-Watt University School of the Built Environment|year=2009|location=ROS Theses Repository|pages=140}}

This civic project, as part of a plan to protect the Old City of Aleppo,{{Cite web|url=http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1139&context=hp_theses|title=Cultural Heritage in Conflict: World Heritage Cities of the Middle East|last=Cobb|first=Elvan|date=2010|website=repository.upenn.edu |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Scholarly Commons|pages=56–64|access-date=1 Jan 2016}} began in 1995 came with some controversy regarding land speculation, land use and its impact on existing residents.{{Cite book|title=Developing heritage: activist decision-makers and reproducing narratives in the Old City of Aleppo, Syria.|last=Bairs-Zars (2010)|first=Bernadette|publisher=Thesis Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning|year=2010}} The project was also a recipient of international award for urban planning and renewal.{{Cite web|url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780935617849|title=Aleppo — Joan Busquets {{!}} Harvard University Press|website=www.hup.harvard.edu|access-date=2017-01-01}}

File:Jdeydeh mosque, Aleppo.jpgThe square became a popular destination, especially for visitors passing through the narrow alleyways of Aleppo's Old City{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/27/arts/design/27preserve.html|title=Aleppo, Syria, Preserves the Past by Enhancing the Present|last=Ouroussoff|first=Nicolai|date=2010-12-26|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-03-26|issn=0362-4331}}—it was home to many shops of antiques and handmade jewellery.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/27/arts/design/27preserve.html|title=Aleppo, Syria, Preserves the Past by Enhancing the Present|last=Ouroussoff|first=Nicolai|date=2010-12-26|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-12-09}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/middleeast/syria/8310683/Aleppo-Syria-a-cultural-guide.html|title=Aleppo, Syria: a cultural guide|last=Simmons|first=Gail|newspaper=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=2017-01-01}}

The famous ful parlor Abu Abdo was also located near the square.{{Citation|last=Amudi83|title=Foul shop in Aleppo (Syria) the best one in the city|date=2010-09-18|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ditpwh6dBO4|access-date=2017-01-01}}

File:Jdeideh Jdayde Aleppo Avril 2015.webm district suffered catastrophic damage in April 2015]]

File:Sahat al hatab alep 2017.jpg

Sahat Al Hatab suffered catastrophic damage during the Syrian civil war that began in Aleppo in July 2012.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9539244/Syria-Christians-take-up-arms-for-first-time.html|title=Syria: Christians take up arms for first time|newspaper=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=2016-12-09}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.dgam.gov.sy/index.php?p=314&id=2039|title=The Antiquities Directorate of Aleppo inspected the damage at both Beit Ghazaleh & Beit Ashiqbash20/08/2016 - عدد القراءات : 1116|website=www.dgam.gov.sy|access-date=2016-12-09}} A series of huge underground explosions conducted by the armed opposition under the square in April 2015 devastated it along with the surrounding historic buildings.{{Citation|last=jdeideh jdayde|title=Al Jdeideh Jdayde April 2015 Sahet Al-Hatab Square Aleppo|date=2015-04-30|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4tk4lDMFj0|access-date=2016-12-09}}{{Cite news|url=http://reliefweb.int/map/syrian-arab-republic/damage-assessment-aleppo-aleppo-governorate-syria-10-jul-2015|title=Damage Assessment of Aleppo, Aleppo Governorate, Syria (10 Jul 2015)|date=2015-07-22|newspaper=ReliefWeb|language=en|access-date=2016-12-09}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.asor-syrianheritage.org/syrian-heritage-initiative-weekly-report-38-april-27-2015/|title=ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives Weekly Report 38 (April 27, 2015)|date=2015-05-28|newspaper=ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives|language=en-US|access-date=2017-01-03}}

Al Hatab Square, and its al-Jdayde (Jdeideh) Quarter, found itself on the front line from the beginning in what became a war of attrition between combatant forces.{{Cite news|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/afp/2016/12/syria-conflict-aleppo-heritage.html|title=Aleppo's famed Old City left 'unrecognisable' by war|date=2016-12-30|newspaper=Al-Monitor|language=en-us|access-date=2016-12-30}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/24/magazine/aleppo-after-the-fall.html?nytmobile=0|title=Aleppo After the Fall, New York Times Magazine|work=The New York Times |date=24 May 2017 |access-date=2017-05-27|last1=Worth |first1=Robert F. }}

The area, like much of the old city, remained a closed militarized zone for most of this period and was heavily damaged from fighting.{{Cite news|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/afp/2016/12/syria-conflict-aleppo-heritage.html|title=Aleppo's famed Old City left 'unrecognisable' by war|date=2017-01-01|newspaper=Al-Monitor|language=en-us|access-date=2017-01-01}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jul/15/how-war-shattered-aleppo-is-preserving-its-culture|title=Rebuilding Aleppo: 'We cannot preserve the place but we can save our memories'|last=Mackenzie|first=Laura|date=2019-07-15|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-07-18|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} Official damage assessments conducted after the evacuation of rebel forces determined Sahat al Hatab to have been "highly affected" by civil war fighting.Ministry of Culture Directorate General of Antiquities & Museums (2017) State Party Report On The State of Conservation of The Syrian Cultural Heritage Sites (Syrian Arab Republic), 1 February 2017, available on https://whc.unesco.org/document/155953

File:Sahat al Hatab 2020.jpg

While the Jdayde Hotel along with other buildings surrounding the square were mostly destroyed,{{Cite web|url=http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNOSAT_A3_Aleppo_DamagePercentage_20160918opt.pdf|title=SYRIA Aleppo City / Jebel Saman District / Aleppo Province Imagery analysis:18 September 2016|last=UNOSAT|date=December 20, 2016|publisher=UN|access-date=Jan 5, 2017}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2016/Dec-14/385272-aleppos-famed-old-city-unrecognizable.ashx|title=Aleppo's famed Old City 'unrecognizable'|date=2016-12-14|work=The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon|access-date=2017-04-27}} the craters on it were backfilled and its surface levelled during 2017. In 2018 further remediation work was undertaken in the area.{{Cite news|url=https://twitter.com/SyrianLionesss/status/1033822926703878145|title=Restoration work currently undergoing at Qalat al Sharif and Sahat al Hatab|work=Twitter|access-date=2018-08-26|language=en}} By 2021, work began on a comprehensive renovation of the square, with the first phase estimated at LS 200 million.{{Cite news|url=https://sana.sy/en/?p=218890|title=Rehabilitation of al-Hatab square in old Aleppo with cost of SYP200 million|work=SANA|access-date= 6 December 2021|date=23 January 2021|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Bassam Janji|date=1 October 2021|title=Jedayde 1|url=https://vimeo.com/user154681632|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-09|website=Vimeo|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209140524/https://vimeo.com/user154681632 |archive-date=2021-12-09 }}

Christmas market was organized on the square in December 2022 with the participation of heads of the Christian denominations and a number of Islamic clerics.{{Cite web|url=https://sana.sy/en/?p=293648|title=Christmas Village Festival in Aleppo conveys a message of peace and love|author=Ruaa al-Jazaeri|publisher=SANA|date=20 December 2022}}

• Bruce Masters (1991) [https://books.google.com/books?id=efp53UAQ6bIC&dq=Aleppo%20the%20Ottoman%20Empire's%20caravan%20city&pg=PA17 Aleppo the Ottoman Empire's caravan city] in Edhem Eldem, Daniel Goffman, and Bruce Masters (1999), "The Ottoman City between East and West: Aleppo, Izmir, and Istanbul." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 17–78.
• Jean-Claude David (1990) [http://www.persee.fr/doc/remmm_0997-1327_1990_num_55_1_2340 L'espace des chrétiens à Alep. Ségrégation et mixité, stratégies communautaires] (1750–1850) Revue du monde musulman et de la Méditerranée Année 1990 Volume 55 Numéro 1 pp. 150–170
• Masters, Bruce (February 1990). "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/164379?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents The 1850 Events in Aleppo: An Aftershock of Syria's Incorporation into the Capitalist World System]". International Journal of Middle East Studies. Cambridge University Press. 22: 3–20. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/164379?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents JSTOR 164379.]
• Burns, Ross, [https://books.google.com/books?id=bMbmDAAAQBAJ&q=hatab&pg=PP1 Aleppo: A History]. London : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017.p. 197, 231–2.
• Mansel, Philip, [https://books.google.com/books?id=AbgLDAAAQBAJ Aleppo: The Rise and Fall of Syria’s Great Merchant City]. London: I.B. Tauris, 2016.
• Mıroğlu, Ebru Aras (2005). [https://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12605840/index.pdf "The Transformation of Urban Space at the Conjunction of the Old and New Districts: The City of Aleppo"] Middle East Technical University. Thesis: pp. 60–5.
• Francesco Lanyafame and Eduardo Rojas (eds., 2011) [https://publications.iadb.org/handle/11319/2780 City Development: Experiences in the preservation of ten world heritage sites]. Washington DC: Inter-American Development Bank. Publication Code IDB-MG-121, 377pp.
• Bernadette, Bairs-Zars (2010) [https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/59713/668435299-MIT.pdf?sequence=2 Developing heritage: activist decision-makers and reproducing narratives in the Old City of Aleppo, Syria]. Thesis Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.
• United Nations Institute for Training and Research (2018) [http://unosat-sdn.web.cern.ch/unosat-sdn/unesco/syria/aleppo_publication/UNESCO_UNITAR-UNOSAT_2017_Publication_Full.pdf "FIVE YEARS OF CONFLICT The State of Cultural Heritage in the Ancient City of Aleppo"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217190541/http://unosat-sdn.web.cern.ch/unosat-sdn/unesco/syria/aleppo_publication/UNESCO_UNITAR-UNOSAT_2017_Publication_Full.pdf |date=2018-12-17 }} unesdoc.unesco.org. [https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000265826 archive] from the original.

File:Antiques at Al-Hatab square Jdeydeh.jpg|Antiques shop at the square

File:View fom al-Hatab sq Jdeydeh.jpg|View from the Al Hatab square

File:Sahat al Hatab 2010.jpg|Bread being dried at Al Hatab Square in 2010

File:Hatab alep10 Jav 2017.jpg|Sahat Al Hatab as seen in January 2017

File:Sahat al Hatab 2017.jpg|In April 2017 before removing the craters

• Ancient City of Aleppo
• Jdeideh (Aleppo)
• Jdeideh's Farhat Square
• Massacre of Aleppo (1850)
• Aleppo Battlefront Operations 2015 (April)

{{Reflist}}

{{Aleppo landmarks}}

Category:Squares in Aleppo

Category:Jdeydeh quarter

Category:Tourist attractions in Syria