Usage of the Citadel hill dates back at least to the middle of the 3rd millennium BCE. Occupied by many civilizations over time – including the Greeks, Byzantines, Ayyubids and Mamluks – the majority of the construction as it stands today is thought to originate from the Ayyubid period. An extensive conservation work took place in the 2000s by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, in collaboration with Aleppo Archeological Society. Dominating the city, the Citadel is part of the Ancient City of Aleppo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986 CE.

During the 2010s CE, the Citadel received significant damage during the lengthy Battle of Aleppo. It was reopened to the public in early 2017 CE with repairs to damaged parts underway.

circa 3000 BCE

The Aleppo Citadel is one of the oldest and largest fortifications in the world, located in the center of Aleppo, Syria. The site has been continuously occupied since at least the middle of the 3rd millennium BCE, with evidence of early fortifications during the Akkadian and Amorite periods. The current visible structures primarily reflect developments from the medieval Islamic period, although substantial renovations and reconstructions occurred under successive dynasties.

During the Ayyubid period (12th–13th centuries), the citadel underwent extensive reconstruction under the reign of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn and his successors, consolidating its defensive capabilities with massive walls, gates, towers, and vaulted halls. The Ayyubid works replaced or reinforced earlier Fatimid and Seljuk structures, introducing features such as the monumental entrance and elaborate internal gateways.

In the Mamluk period (13th–16th centuries), the citadel continued to serve as a military and administrative center. Mamluk architects added further fortifications, including bastions and reinforced towers, adapting the structure to advances in siege warfare. The citadel remained a key defensive installation against both local uprisings and external invasions.

During the Ottoman period (16th–early 20th century), the Aleppo Citadel’s military importance declined, though the site retained administrative and symbolic functions. Repairs and modifications were carried out sporadically, particularly in response to earthquakes and local conflicts.

The citadel has been affected by natural disasters, including earthquakes in 1138 and 1822, which caused significant damage and necessitated reconstruction. Archaeological investigations in the 20th and 21st centuries have revealed layers of occupation from the Bronze Age through the Islamic period, confirming its long-term strategic and urban significance.

circa 3000 BCE

Temple of Storm God Hadad
The Hadad Temple at the Citadel of Aleppo is one of the most significant archaeological discoveries in ancient Near Eastern studies, providing material evidence for Aleppo’s earliest documented history. Excavations by a joint Syrian–German archaeological team have revealed a monumental temple dedicated to the Semitic storm deity Hadad (also known in other ancient sources as Addu, Teshup, or Tarhunta). The site’s origins extend back to at least the mid‑3rd millennium BCE, when textual evidence from cuneiform archives at Ebla and Mari attest that the city (then known as Khalab) functioned as the religious center for the worship of Hadad, a principal deity in the broader West Semitic pantheon. This early evidence suggests that a cult structure or sanctuary stood atop the wooded mound later occupied by the Aleppo Citadel long before the monumental temple was constructed.

Archaeological remains uncovered beneath the medieval and Ottoman layers show that the Hadad temple persisted through multiple phases of construction and renovation. After initial use in the Early Bronze Age, the sanctuary was rebuilt following destruction by fire and underwent further architectural development around 1100 BCE, as indicated by stylistic changes in relief sculpture and architectural elements. A later renovation around 900 BCE is evidenced in the rebuilding of structural walls and elaborately carved relief blocks forming a raised platform. While the complete architectural plan has yet to be fully exposed, excavators have identified a series of long entry rooms leading to a large rectangular cella, reflecting the temple’s ceremonial complexity.

circa 1200 CE

Ayyubid Palace
The Ayyubid Palace within the Aleppo Citadel, though modest in scale compared to later monumental structures, exemplifies a carefully articulated expression of political authority and royal ideology. Its architecture and decoration were deliberately aligned with a classical Islamic palace iconography, a visual and spatial language developed during the early medieval period to signify rulership, legitimacy, and sacred authority. This iconography typically combined axial symmetry, hierarchical spatial arrangements, and the use of courtyards, iwans, and audience halls to structure both ceremonial and administrative functions.

In the Aleppo Citadel, the palace incorporated these elements in a compact plan, reflecting the Ayyubids’ adaptation of larger architectural paradigms to a fortified, urban context. Walls and facades were adorned with carved stone panels, muqarnas ornamentation, and epigraphic inscriptions that reinforced dynastic prestige. The palace’s interior spaces were organized to convey a progression from public, semi-public, and private zones, a common motif in Islamic royal architecture intended to reflect both social hierarchy and the controlled access of visitors. By employing this iconography of power, the Ayyubid builders connected Aleppo’s citadel to a broader tradition of Islamic rulership, one that was also evident in contemporary Artuqid and later Mamluk palaces, thereby situating the city within the continuum of medieval Islamic political culture.

circa 1200 CE

Entrance Complex
The enormous stone bridge constructed by Sultan al-Zahir al-Ghazi over the moat led to an imposing bent entrance complex. Would-be assailants to the castle would have to take over six turns up a vaulted entrance ramp, over which were machicolations for pouring hot liquids on attackers from the mezzanine above. Secret passageways wind through the complex, and the main passages are decorated with figurative reliefs. The Ayyubid block is topped by the Mamluk "Throne Hall", a hall where Mamluk sultans entertained large audiences and held official functions.

circa 1213 CE

Jami' al-Kabir
The Great Mosque of Aleppo Citadel was constructed in 1213-14 CE (610 Hijri) under the patronage of Ayyubid Sultan al-Malik al-Zahir Ghazi. Its situation at the highest point of the Citadel, with its towering minaret that is 21 meters high, extended both the citadels visibility and its defense to greater distances. Here the minaret begins to play a religious and military role; this duality merges the virtues of power and piety in the icon of the Islamic faith.

circa 1400 CE

Throne Hall
The magnificent throne hall was added on top of the twelfth-century fortified entrance complex, during the restoration of the citadel. The new throne hall was the grandest space in the citadel and it was used for official functions and for entertaining by the rulers of Aleppo and by Mamluk sultans visiting from Cairo. It was added following a sack of the citadel by the conqueror Timur, known to the West as Tamerlane, in 1400 CE, when the Mamluk governors of Aleppo embarked on a large-scale reconstruction program.

circa 1505 CE

Barbican Fortifications
In a building campaign that lasted from 1505-6 CE and then 1509-10 CE (911-915 Hijri), Mamluk Sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri constructed the lower tower (barbican) of the Entrance Complex and rebuilt two towers on the glacis: one on the south side, east of the Entrance Complex, and one on the north.