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Aleppo (حلب Arabic Ḥalab; חלב Tiberian Hebrew Ḥālāḇ (modern or Ivrit Hebrew Xalav): both mean "Fresh Milk") is a city and province in northern Syria. The city has a population of around 1.7 million (1999), making it the second largest city in the country after Damascus. It is one of the oldest cities in the region, known to antiquity as Khalpe and to the Greeks as Beroea, and occupies a strategic trading point midway between the sea and the Euphrates; initially, it was built on a small group of hills in a wide fertile valley on both sides of the river Quweiq . The province or governate extends around the city for over 16,000 km² and has around 3.7 million inhabitants.

There is a relatively clear division between old and new Aleppo. The older portions were contained within a wall, 3 miles in circuit with seven gates. The medieval castle in the city is built atop a huge partially artificial mound rising 50 m above the city, the current structure dates from the 13th century and had been extensively damaged by earthquakes, notably in 1822.

The city has many mosques including the Madrasa Halawiya. A temple that once stood on the site was rebuilt as Aleppo's great Byzantine cathedral founded by Saint Helena, mother of Constantine the Great which contains a tomb associated with Zachary, father of John the BaptistJohn the Baptist (also called John the Baptizer or John the Dipper is regarded as a prophet by at least three religions: Christianity, Islam, and Mandaeanism. According to the Gospel of Luke, he was a relative of Jesus. That he was a prophet is asserted b. During the CrusadeThis article is about the historical Crusades and the extended term "Crusade". For the artillery system, see XM2001 Crusader; for the fighter jet, see F-8 Crusader; for the television series, see Crusade. Historically, the Crusades were a series of severas, when the invaders pillaged the surrounding countryside, the city's chief judge converted St. Helena's cathedral into a mosque, and in the middle of the 12th century11th century 12th century 13th century other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. Events Song dynasty loses power over Northern China The Kamakura Shogunate deprives the the famous leader Nur al-Din founded the madrasa or religious school that has encompassed the former cathedral.

The Jami al-Kabir "Great Mosque" was originally built by the Umayyads, although the present structure begun for Nur al-Din dates from 1158Events January 11 Vladislav II becomes King of Bohemia End of the formal reign of Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan, also the beginning of his cloistered rule, which will last to his death in 1192. Emperor Nijo ascends to the throne of Japan. British Pound St and a rebuilding after the Mongol invasion of 1260. As an ancient trading centre, Aleppo also has impressive suqs (shopping streets) and khan (commercial courtyards). The city was significantly redesigned after WW II; in 1952 the French architect Andre Gutton had a number of wide new roads cut through the city to allow modern traffic easier passage. In the 1970s, large parts of the older city were demolished to allow for the construction of modern flat blocks.

The main role of the city was as a trading place, it sat at the crossroads of two trade routes and mediated the trade from India, the Tigris and Euphrates regions and the route coming from Damascus in the South, which traced the base of the mountains rather than the rugged seacoast. Although trade was often directed away from the city for political reasons, it continued to thrive until the Europeans began to use the Cape route to India and later to utilise the route through Egypt to the Red Sea. Since then the city has declined and its chief exports now are the agricultural product of the surrounding region, mainly wheat and cotton, pistachios, olives and sheep.