About

SCLAleppo (Social-Cultural Layers of Aleppo) is a research-driven, public, open-access platform that documents, analyses, and disseminates the multilayered urban and social history of Aleppo. Drawing on deep-mapping methodologies, the project situates Aleppo’s architectural, mercantile, and everyday life within the broader historical currents of Levant, highlighting its intersections with political change, long-distance trade, and diverse cultural traditions.
Aleppo experienced rapid commercial expansion beyond its walled core, the reconfiguration of caravan routes, and the emergence of new building typologies—khans repurposed as textile depots, merchant courtyard houses transformed into consulates, and charitable endowments funding modern schools and hospitals. Archival sources that narrate these shifts, however, remain scattered across war-damaged repositories, private collections, and diaspora family albums. This fragmentation has impeded both local and global scholarship, leaving critical gaps in our understanding of how one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities negotiated change.
SCLAleppo bridges this knowledge divide. The platform offers a bilingual (Arabic / English) interface that layers high-resolution survey maps, waqf deeds, trade ledgers, architectural drawings, photographs, and oral histories onto a Geo-referenced base map. Each item is catalogued with contextual essays, inviting scholars, conservationists, educators, and the wider public to explore spatial narratives—whether tracing the cotton boom along Bab Antakiya Road or examining how civic charities re-shaped neighborhood identities.
Committed to open knowledge, SCLAleppo releases its code under an MIT license and its content (where rights permit) under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. The project encourages contributions from Aleppines worldwide, heritage institutions, and independent researchers: users may upload verified materials, annotate existing records, or propose thematic layers for future curation. By fostering such collaborative authorship, SCLAleppo challenges the gatekeeping of traditional archives and promotes a shared stewardship of cultural memory.
Ultimately, the platform aims not only to preserve the fragile documentary record but also to inform evidence-based conservation and to inspire inclusive narratives that reflect the city’s plural past—and its potential for resilient regeneration.