The National Library of Aleppo

The National Library of Aleppo is the banded stone building on Bab al-Faraj square, right next to the clock tower. Its name is carved in Arabic above the entrance. The public book collection of the city is kept here, and the history of the institution runs through two different parts of Aleppo: first a khan in the old city, then the new square laid out under the mandate.

How the library began

The decision to found it came in 1924 from the central government in Damascus, and it opened as a branch of the Arab Scientific Academy. Its first director was the Aleppo historian Sheikh Kamel al-Ghazzi. Its first home was not this building either: the collection sat in the Islamic awqaf office inside Khan al-Jumruk, so the library started life in the middle of the souq.

How the building came

In 1937 a site was set aside on Bab al-Faraj square, next to the clock tower, and construction finished in 1939. The opening was held up by the Second World War. The doors finally opened on 4 December 1945, through the efforts of the governor of Aleppo, prince Mustafa al-Shihabi, with a collection of 6000 books. The building stayed under the Aleppo municipality until 1954, when it was refitted and passed directly to the Ministry of Culture.

Getting there

Bab al-Faraj square lies north-west of the city centre and the clock tower is its landmark; find the tower and you have found the library. Twenty minutes west of the citadel on foot. The square carries traffic and is noisy, but the front of the building reads well from the far pavement.

What is inside

The collection now runs to 100 thousand books. The building also has a small theatre hall seating 300, which is what makes the library a cultural building on the square rather than only a reading room. Opening times and the rules for the reading room have been uneven since the war, so ask at the door.

What most people miss

The inscription above the entrance, and the muqarnas window above that. Everyone on the square looks at the clock tower; the library front was built in the same years, and its banded stonework was designed as the tower’s neighbour.