The Al-Kiltawiyya, Aleppo

The hill that rises over Bab al-Hadid — the Gate of Iron, once called Bab al-Qanat — is called al-Kiltawiyya, and it takes the name from the college on top of it. The hill sits over the old vault known as Qabu al-Najjarin, and the road into the city runs from here through the Bayyada and Mustadamiyya quarters to the citadel. What stands on the hill today is the remnant of a Mamluk endowment beside a school founded in the twentieth century.

Who built it

The college was built by the emir Toqtamur al-Kiltawi, and when he died in the Hijri year 787, that is 1385, he was buried in it. Next to it he put up a large marble-paved house with wide stables under it and shops along the outside. He endowed all of it to the college, along with other income, including an olive press outside Banqusa. The deed set one condition, and it was a legal school: teacher and students alike were to be Hanafi.

What is left

Kamil al-Ghazzi, the historian of Aleppo, recorded what survived in his own day, and he gave measurements. A courtyard enclosed by four walls, 50 cubits long and 30 wide. On its south side a small prayer hall, where the Friday prayer was held. Nothing was left of the founder’s house. The quarter cemetery beside it was still there. On top of the hill stood a small old mosque with no minaret, reached by stone steps from outside; its windows looked south onto the cemetery, and the cemetery lay over old caves.

What is on the hill today

Shaykh Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Nabhan withdrew into that small mosque. Later he founded the new Kiltawiyya on the same hill: Dar Nahdat al-Ulum al-Shar’iyya opened in 1964 and is known today as the Nabhan Mosque. The tall minaret, the wide forecourt and the school buildings behind it all belong to that period, and a new entrance stands where the old stone doorway was.

How long it takes

Half an hour, climb included. A narrow slope takes you up, and the walk earns itself on the view alone: the northern quarters of Aleppo open east and west from here. The school is a working institution, so ask before you step into the courtyard.

Don’t miss

The view down towards Bab al-Hadid. The site was not picked at random. Al-Ghazzi noted that the building stood on high ground to the left of anyone entering the city, and that line of sight is still there. It explains in one glance why the gate was opened where it was.