The Al-Shibani Church and Cultural Centre

A two-storey courtyard building in the middle of al-Jalloum, just south of the Souq al-Nahhaseen. The present building went up as a church in the 12th century; before it, one of the four main churches of old Aleppo stood on the same ground. In the 17th century it passed to the Shibani family and became a khan; in the 19th century the Franciscans took the khan over and founded the city’s first college here, which opened in 1859. The building later passed to the state and spent half a century as a tobacco store.

Getting there

The lane running south out of the Souq al-Nahhaseen brings you to the courtyard gate. It is a five-minute walk from the Great Mosque. The lane is narrow and the sign is small; the door opens straight into the courtyard.

What to see

The courtyard is the centre of it. Two storeys of arcading run around it, with a stone pedestal in the middle. The halls are used for exhibitions: one of them tells the story of old Aleppo’s souqs, mosques and caravanserais through photographs and models, and the model of the citadel and the quarters around it is there too. A separate hall on the ground floor covers the repair of the building itself.

How it stands today

The rehabilitation was finished in 2006 and carried out through Syrian-German cooperation. The building has worked as a cultural centre ever since, and the Aga Khan Foundation runs its Aleppo and northern Syria work from here. Exhibitions and events run through the year. Ask about the programme in advance; the door is not open every day at every hour.

Do not miss

The stonework of the courtyard. In eight hundred years this building has been a church, a caravanserai, a school and a store, and each period left its own addition. Run your eye along the façade; the colour and cut of the stone change at one point, and that is where an addition begins.