Seriously Syria

  Aleppo, Syria
Monday, April 23, 2007

A new day with new things to see.

Today we started early on a guided tour of some major sites around
Aleppo.  First, we drove out to the Citadel of St. Simon, a Christian
zealot who spent 40 years of his life living on top of a 18 metre
pillar to be closer to God, until his death in the mid 5th century.  As
he could supposubly perform miracles and heal people, a series of huge
basilicas were built around his pillar to honour him. 

Citadel of St. Simon

The Basilica was later added on to by the Byzantines, and a monastery built nearby,
turning this Basilica into a Citadel.  The monastery was to help with
pilgrims who traveled from all over the country to visit the site.

There weren't many people there, and the ruins were incredibly well
preserved.  Not too far behind Ephesus, but in a Byzantine style.  Our
guide was a tiny, very animated Syrian man, who carried a briefcase and
an umbrella everywhere he went, reminding us of a male Merry Poppins. 
Upon introduction (more candy!) we quickly whisked our group around the
Citadel, bringing it alive with his in depth knowledge.

After the Citadel, we headed back to Aleppo to the Citadel in the
centre of the city.  This was an Arabic fortress, famous for having
never fallen, despite many attempts by multiple Empires.  Only the
Mongols were able to penetrate the walls, by killing the citizens
outside for every day they were not allowed in. The defenders
eventually opened the gates.  The crusaders tried twice to take the
citadel, but never succeeded.  The defenses of the Citadel were
impressive. 

Gabrielle at the Gates

Arrow slits throughout the walls, and endless passages for burning oil and stones to be thrown at invaders.  We visited the inner
Citadel, the dungeon (what a smell!) the kings bath house, and the
throne room (restored beautifully).  With amazing views over Syria, it
was a fantastic visit.  Dan and the boys had to deter two young men
that had taken up to following the ladies in our group.  After some
death stares and threatening gestures, the two men, comically, took to
pulling at each other trying to decide to go after us or to walk away. 
They chose the safer option.

We have really noticed the difference between the genders here, even
more so than in Turkey.  Although we saw lots of women wearing head
scarfs in Turkey, we have seen many here who have only their eyes
showing, and sometimes not even that.  Unlike a burka, they don't even
have a grill to look out of, just covered in black fabric from head to
toe.  We have seen a few women who don't wear any head covering, but it
is in the minority.  Although the men don't tend to openly harass the
women in the tour group, we get many stares, and a small few of the
young men have followed us for a time, or asked about details of some
of the younger girls.  Shaun and Dan have taken up to using false
stories (she's my sister and has a boyfriend at home) or simply using
very disapproving looks and using confronting body language to scare
them off.  We haven't had any serious trouble, and don't expect to, but
we want to be careful.

By this point in the day we were starving, so our guide took us back
into the chaos of the Souks and we clogged the hallway buying small
Syrian pizza's and stuffed breads.  The best was a roll filled with
cheese, mint, and herbs, cooked in a wood oven while you waited.  It
cost a grand total of 10 Syrian Pounds (20cents NZ)  and we all went
through several each. 

Next we went to a 14th century mental hospital (they were doing some
amazing things with mental sickness way back then), and on to the grand
mosque.  Here, all of the girls had to done extremely flattering gray
robes, and head scarves (or choose to use the pointy hoods on their
robes) making them look like a cult of drab. 

Girls in Gray

Whether it was the fancy gray gowns, or Dan's blond hair and blue eyes, we clearly stood out,
and soon drew a crowd.  We were asked many questions in broken English,
and had our photo taken with heaps of locals.  Dan even scored an email
address from one of the local girls.  Gabrielle just thought it was
funny.  It was the first place, on our travels, that we've ever felt
like such an oddity.

We learned that the mosque held the head of Zacharia, John the Baptists
father, who was also considered a prophet by Muslims.  The mosque was
beautiful and it was very busy with people lining up to pray at the
shrine.  It's spire also had a slight lean, due to a huge earthquake
that destroyed 60% of Aleppo back in 1822. 

Outside the Grand Mosque

Everyone was exhausted so we've all split up to meet again tonight. 
For now, We'll sign off.  The constant smoking around us is hard to
take and the Internet here is very slow. 

All our best from Syria

Dan and Gabrielle