Aleppo’s eastern quarters on foot: Qastal al-Harami to Bab al-Ahmar

North and east of the citadel, in quarters the souq walks never reach, three Mamluk mosques, a city gate and an Ottoman bath house line up. The walk starts in the north, at the Qastal al-Harami Mosque of 1461. It goes out through Bab al-Hadid to Banqusa, just outside the wall, and back again. Then it heads south from the al-Sarawi Mosque of 1378 and ends east of the citadel, at Hammam Bab al-Ahmar and the Bab al-Ahmar Mosque of 1480. Two kilometres, six stops. These quarters were inside the fighting of 2012-2016, and each stop stands in a different state today.

The route

The Qastal al-Harami Mosque is 1100 metres north of the citadel square, in the middle of the quarter named after it. Walk south-east from here; Bab al-Hadid is close to 1 kilometre on foot, the longest leg of the route. Go out through the passage of the gate: the Banqusa Mosque is 100 metres further, inside the quarter’s souq. Come back in through the gate and walk south towards the Bayada market; al-Sarawi is 600 metres on. Hammam al-Bayada is 20 metres further along. From al-Sarawi walk 300 metres south and you come out on Bab al-Ahmar Street. The bath is on the street and the mosque of the same name a few steps away. The citadel square is 300 metres west of here.

Timing

Be at Qastal al-Harami by 09:00. In the morning the vegetable carts come right up to the mosque and the quarter is at its busiest; twenty minutes is enough. You are at Bab al-Hadid by 09:45: see the face, then walk into the passage and the ironmongers’ shops. At 10:15, Banqusa: the souq first, then the mosque, forty minutes in all. By 11:00 you are in front of al-Sarawi; bread stalls are set up at its door and the street fills towards midday. Reach Bab al-Ahmar at 11:30. Fifteen minutes to look at the bath, fifteen at the mosque; if the midday call to prayer is close, see the mosque first. You are on the citadel square around 12:00.

Take care

All three mosques are mostly locked outside prayer times; ask in the quarter whether the door is open. If you go in, women need a head covering and shoes come off at the door. The dome of Qastal al-Harami carries war damage. There is no dated record of the Banqusa Mosque since the war. At the bath, whether bathing is offered, the hours and the price all change; ask at the door. The location of the Bab al-Ahmar Mosque has not been verified; in the quarter people also know it as Aghulbak. Do not enter ruined buildings or climb rubble, and do not turn into closed lanes. The mosques charge no entry fee.