El Jedeide

We now come the Jedeide, which is full of historic houses. The quarter is bounded by the street al Gassaniyin on the west and the al Kouwatly on the south. All the houses here are built of fine limestone, lining narrow streets with no shops and sometime vaulted. They are all most beautifully kept by their owners. A guide is useful here to point out the courtyards which are completely invisible from the street. Little anonymous doorway lead into courts whose general style and decoration exemplifies the Epicurean tastes of the bourgeois of Aleppo in the 16th and 17th centuries. There is always a fountain in the center and sometimes a little garden planted with jasmine and roses. A high deep iwan, simply furnished for relaxation or for dinning, generally occupies the cooler north side. The other facades, with living rooms behind, have beautifully carved surrounds to their doors and windows. There is a whole variety of motifs-rosettes, ribbons, and garlands - which look like lace made of golden stone. A carved frieze and gargoyles emphasize the roofline. It is all essentially Syrian and unique to Aleppo. The inhabitants are proud of their beautiful houses and very kindly disposed to visitors and photographers. Many of these houses are now owned collectively and run as institutions and schools. Unfortunately, later accretions, ugly chimneys and other incongruous eyesores sometimes mar them.