Documentation of Historic Monuments in Aleppo

Since Aleppo's old town, with its countless mosques, madrasas, churches, bazaars, caravanserais, city gates, and citadel, has been particularly affected by the armed conflict and following earthquake in 2023, the focus of this project is the comprehensive documentation of individual monuments. In addition to describing their history and architectural history, this also includes personal memories and an assessment of their current state of preservation. The project complements the Built Heritage Documentation subproject.

Each entry in the catalog focuses on a building in the Old City of Aleppo based on the following themes:

1. Photos showing the monuments before 2011, based on the digital database of the Syrian Heritage Archive Project
2. Reports and materials on damage assessment from the Built Heritage Documentation subproject
3. Art and architectural history of the buildings, written by Aleppo residents and international art historians
4. Social history / urban history background
5. Memories of inhabitants of Aleppo relating to these buildings and their surroundings in the form of texts, voice recordings, and films
6. Detailed documents, drawings, and plans of the buildings

The project also aims to raise awareness among national and international media about the importance of these monuments. Materials for reconstruction are being provided in cooperation with UNESCO.

The catalog was published in the Gerda Henkel Foundation's EDIT e-publication series.

Projectleader: Dima Dayoub
Scientific Assistants: Hiba Bizreh, Zoya Masoud  
Cooperationpartners: Freunde des Museums für Islamische Kunst im Pergamonmuseum e.V.
Responsible body: Museum für Islamische Kunst
Sponsor: Gerda Henkel Stiftung
Operation period: Juli 2017 to 2023