Dictionary of islamic architecture

part of the veranda is occupied by a separate room.
In the nineteenth century many of these verandas
were filled in with large glazed windows. Inside the
houses are elaborately decorated with carved and
painted woodwork.
Further reading:
R.I.Lawless, ‘Berat and Gjirokastër: two museum towns
in Albania’, in 
Islam in the Balkans: Persian Art and
Culture of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries,
Edinburgh 1979, 9–18.
P.Ward, 
Albania,
Cambridge and New York 1983.
‘Albania’, 
Aramco World
July/August 1992:38–47.
albarrani
Spanish term for a tower projecting from the walls
of a castle or city fortifications and connected by
means of a bridge. The earliest example in Spain is
at Mérida and is connected to the ninth-century
fortress, but most other examples are later.
Further reading:
J.Zozaya, ‘Islamic fortifications in Spain: some aspects’, in
Papers in Iberian Archaeology,
BAR, 
Oxford
1984.
Aleppo (Arabic Halab)
Syria’s second city located on the river Qoueiq in north-
west Syria.
Aleppo is often regarded as the oldest inhabited city
in the world because of its continous history from at
least the twentieth century BCE. Although the city
was of great significance in Roman and Byzantine
times its importance declined during the first three
albarrani

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11
Tower houses in Girokastër, Albania (after Lawless)
Aleppo (Arabic Halab)

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12
centuries of Islam in favour of the nearby city of
Qinnarisin. Under the Hamdanids Aleppo once more
became powerful as capital of a dynasty ruling
northern Syria; this was shortlived, however, and the
city was not able to recover its status until 1129 when
Imad al Din Zengi was made governor. Imad al Din
was able to consolidate his position through a series
of victories against the Crusaders which established
him as premier ruler in Syria. Under Imad and his
successors the Zangids and later the Ayyubids the
city grew to be one of the great cities of Islam. Despite
the Mongol invasions of 1260 and 1400 Aleppo
remained a major city throughout the Middle Ages
and the Ottoman period.
Although there are the remains of an Umayyad
mosque enclosed within the Great Mosque, most of
the monuments in Aleppo belong to the period after
the eleventh century. During the twelfth and early
thirteenth centuries a number of important madrassas
were built including al-Zahiriyyah (1217), al-
Sultaniyyah (1223) and the Madrassa al-Firdaws which
includes a mosque, a school and a turbah. Important
public buildings from the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries include the Maristan (hospital) Arghuni and
the Hammam al-Nasiri (public baths).
In spite of the great beauty of Aleppo’s madrassas
and mosques the best-known feature of the city is its
fortifications, particularly the citadel which dominates
the old city. Although fortification on the citadel began
as early as the tenth century, the most spectacular work
dates from the thirteenth century under Ghazi al Malik
al-Zahir. During this period the glacis, triple entrance
and most of the towers were built. Characteristic
features of this work are the monumental inscriptions,
carved animal sculpture and massive masonry. In
addition to the citadel the old city is enclosed within
a medieval wall and gates.
Whilst the medieval period saw the development
of Aleppo’s fortifications and religious buildings the
Ottoman era produced a large number of commercial
and industrial buildings. Prominent amongst these are
Khan al-Sabun (early sixteenth century), Khan al-
Jumruk, Khan al-Wazir and Bayt Dallal (all seventeenth
century). These buildings belong to a complex network
of suks which extend for a distance of 15 km.