The Tawhid Mosque, Aleppo

A modern mosque in the Baghdad Station district of Aleppo, on the right bank of the Queiq river. Its four round minarets and central dome set the skyline of the quarter. What makes it worth the walk is where it stands: in the middle of a largely Christian district, with a church on either side of it.

Getting there

On Khalil al-Hindawi street, on the right bank of the river. You walk over from the Aziziyah and Sulaymaniyah side. No directions are needed: the minarets show from a long way off, and nothing else nearby is that tall.

What to see

The building opened in 1981 and puts the forms of early Islamic architecture, Abbasid work in particular, into a contemporary plan. A large central dome covers the prayer hall, with four smaller domes around it. The minarets are round, not square. That is a deliberate break from the old stone minarets of Aleppo. An arcade of repeated arches runs across the front, and a small garden sits beside it.

What most people miss

The mosque’s two neighbours. Across the street to the north stands the Chaldean Catholic Church of St Joseph, completed in 1974. Across the street to the east is the large Church of St George, finished in 1969. Cross to the far pavement. From there the dome of the church and the minarets line up in a single view.