The Al-Dabbagha Mosque

The mosque of the Dabbagha al-Atiqa quarter, in the old city of Aleppo towards the Sab’ Bahrat area. The quarter takes its name from its trade: dabbagha means tanning, and hides were worked here. The mosque is small and plain; what makes it the best-known building in the quarter is its minaret.

The minaret

This is where the value of the building lies. Some sources give the minaret to the Ayyubid period, but the stronger likelihood is that it is Seljuk, with the early 13th century as its date. It is counted among the finest minarets in Aleppo, and it owes that to the stonework of its shaft.

Who built it

The founder is not recorded. As with most of the market and quarter mosques of Aleppo, the building takes its name from the quarter rather than from whoever paid for it.

Getting there

The old Dabbagha quarter, in the Sab’ Bahrat area. It falls on the walk between the Great Mosque and al-Jdayde; the simplest way to find it in the lanes is to look up for the minaret.

How long it takes

A quarter of an hour. What there is to see is on the outside: the minaret.

Its condition today

The mosque itself has been restored by the city’s antiquities department. The minaret has not, and is still waiting. So you will find a tended mosque and an untended minaret standing side by side.

Don’t miss

Look at the minaret from the street rather than the courtyard. The whole shaft only reads from a little distance; from inside the courtyard you see the lower part alone.