Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

In this ancient fortress city in northern Syria, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited settlements, an ambitious restoration project is near completion in the Old City. Bloomberg is reporting that a master plan for development has been laid out for the next 15 years.

The most spectacular renewal is the Citadel castle: Workers cleared its deep moat, cleaned its formidable walls and removed tons of rubble. The work is backed by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, whose goal is to revitalize run-down communities and monuments.

Syria remains on the U.S. State Department list of terrorism sponsors, but new visa-free travel to and from Turkey has made Aleppo a way station.

The Mansouriya Palace boutique hotel, a combination of two houses set around a courtyard decorated by a rectangular pool and an orange tree, provides a preview of tourism in old Aleppo. Its nine rooms are done in styles reflecting parts of the city’s history, among them Greco-Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Hittite.