Starting in late 2016, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) participated with UNESCO and other international NGOs and conservation specialists in a number of conferences and workshops on the subject of rehabilitation. Later that year, the Syrian Directorate General of Antiquities and Monuments and the Syria Trust for Development, reached out to AKTC as the entity considered best placed and most experienced to assist in the rehabilitation of some of the most damaged cultural heritage sites in the country as part of a humanitary assistance programme.
The Aleppo Souk is the largest medieval souk in the Middle East and was badly damaged during the conflict. A pilot project on a section (Souk al- Saqatiyya) with a length of 150 metres including 52 shops was undertaken starting at the end of 2018 throughout 2019. The prime objective is to improve the infrastructure and utilities in the Souk, so as to encourage shop owners and clients to resume commercial activities in the social and economic arteries of the city. Phase 1 was completed in July 2019. It is the first conservation and reuse project in post-conflict Aleppo of such scale.
The selection of the souks in the 5-year plan is surgical. Together, they create a critical mass within the heart of the Central Souk and provide an impetus for public and private initiatives in other areas of the Souk, thereby reviving the entire area and stimulating the economy. This project is much more than restoring bricks and mortar, its objective is to improve lives by creating an economic engine in the Old City. The project, when complete at the end of 2025, will see the rehabilitation of 277 shops, and a coffee-house, over 515m of passageways and cover an area of 5,480 m2.
Souk Sahat Festok is a small souk built from 1509 to 1515 containing 18 shops and is one of the oldest sections (Mamluk period) of the Central Souk. Though small, its width is exceptional for its time. Instead of traditional vaulting, it is covered with a timber roof resting on four monumental transversal arches. Souk Sahat Festok is the junction between Khan al-Harir and Souk al-Saqatiyya and connects the two souks.
