Maqam Ibrahim in Al-Salihin, Aleppo

Outside the walls, inside the Al-Salihin cemetery on the south side of the city. A venerated rock stands here, tied to the account of Abraham stopping at this spot on his way from Ur to Hebron. The site was first honoured in 1086 by the Seljuk sultan Malik Shah; the body of the building standing today is Zengid and Ayyubid work.

Getting there

Go south through Bab al-Maqam and into the cemetery. The shrine is inside it, on the west side of the path, and its white front and the black-and-white arch over the entrance separate it from the graves around. There is a second small mosque in the cemetery, further north; look at the entrance arch to tell them apart.

The gate is named after this

The south gate of Aleppo is Bab al-Maqam, the Gate of the Shrine, and this is the shrine. Al-Aziz Muhammad built the gate on the road that linked the Maqamat quarter to the citadel. Listing the ways its design departs from other medieval Syrian gates, Yasser Tabbaa reads that departure as ceremonial rather than military: homage to Abraham. The south gate of the city is the head of a pilgrim road as much as a piece of defence.

What to see

Adjust your expectations: the building looks very new. A photographer who came in 2010 noted that the older structure had been covered with a modern roof to protect it and that the facade had been renewed. Inside, a glass box stands in front of one of the mihrabs; the venerated stone is said to have been there for a time before it was moved into another mihrab. You come here for the place and the stone, not for a monumental front.

How long it takes

Twenty-five minutes. This is a working shrine rather than a museum. Shoes come off at the door, and it fills up on visiting days. You walk in through a cemetery, so keep your voice down and ask before you photograph.

Don’t miss

The stone itself. It is set inside a mihrab, and most visitors look at the glass box and move on. Ask which mihrab holds it, because it has been moved once already.