German map project to aid future rebirth of Aleppo

With its battered facades, pulverised houses and skeletons of buildings, one of the world's oldest cities, Aleppo, has been utterly devastated by the war in Syria.

Now, in Germany, scholars are preparing for its reconstruction one day by creating a super-detailed map of the old city and its treasures, long listed as a Unesco World Heritage site.

In a bright office of a university campus in Cottbus in the former East Germany, urban planner Christoph Wessling runs his index finger through the labyrinth of alleys and streets of Aleppo.

Spread across his large desk lies a huge map, measuring two by 2.5 metres (more than six by eight feet), drawn to a scale of 1:500.

It is an exceptional document that replicates the walled ancient city with its souks, hammams, mosques, churches and residential dwellings, with infinite precision and loving detail.

In total, some 16,000 plots have been traced, as well as 400 floor plans of the main buildings of this city, which has been inhabited continuously for over 6,000 years.

As the academic traces the ancient web of streets and alleys of the Silk Road city, his minds drifts back to a place that a 12th century poem described as being as old as eternity.

Aleppo was a city of hidden gems, recalled Wessling, who was a frequent visitor to the northern Syrian metropolis before the start of the war in 2011.

"In Aleppo, we would enter a house whose austere facade was absolutely nothing special," he said.

"And then suddenly we came upon a chain of three enchanting inner courtyards with richly decorated pillars."

That was life before the country's commercial centre was divided between the rebel-held east and the loyalist-controlled west and became a main battleground of the civil war.

Aleppo became the scene of a major humanitarian tragedy in late 2016, before it was captured by the army of President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia and Iran.

In coming weeks the map, created by six experts with a budget of 60,000 euros ($67,000), will be put online and made available to anyone wishing to participate in the eventual reconstruction of Aleppo.