Living with Disaster: Aleppo and the Earthquake of 1822

Abstract

To overcome the results of one of the major disasters in its history—the earthquake of 1822—the inhabitants of Aleppo employed different short- and long-term strategies that profoundly transformed the urban space. The disaster accelerated and even shaped urban transformations already underway and thus became part of the urban history that is still visible in Aleppo’s old city today. One of the immediate strategies to cope with the destruction—settling in wooden structures outside the old walled city—became a relatively long-lasting solution and resulted in the foundation of a new ghetto-like neighbourhood to accommodate the city’s foreigners of mostly European origin. The hybrid character of this new neighbourhood transcends more “traditional” patterns of social organization in bringing together people from different origins. Other results accelerated and facilitated transformations that had already been underway for some time, like the concentration of real estate in the hands of wealthy and powerful individuals and families. This can be seen in the “transcultural” redecoration of the apartments in the big khāns in the central market district by Italian Jewish families in a European fashion.