5 Piastres 1944, Syria
| in Krause book | Number: 55 |
| Years of issue: | 15.02.1944 |
| Edition: | -- |
| Signatures: | Unknown signature |
| Serie: | 1944 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 15.07.1942 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 97 х 57 |
| Printer: | Moharrem Press, Alexandrie, Egypt |
* All pictures marked 
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Description
Watermark:
4 vertical lines and abbreviation of Printer "MPA".
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Centered is the window with the view of Aleppo and citadel from the southwest, photo ca. 1900-1920 (Matson Photograph Collection).
The Citadel of Aleppo (Arabic: قلعة حلب) is a large medieval fortified palace in the centre of the old city of Aleppo, northern Syria. It is considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in the world. Usage of the Citadel hill dates back at least to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. Subsequently occupied by many civilizations including the Greeks, Byzantines, Ayyubids and Mamluks, the majority of the construction as it stands today is thought to originate from the Ayyubid period.
An extensive conservation work has taken place in the 2000s by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in collaboration with Aleppo Archeological Society. Dominating the city, the Citadel is part of the Ancient City of Aleppo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986.
The Citadel has received significant damage in the ongoing Syrian Civil War. 
On the foreground is the Great Mosque of Aleppo.
The Great Mosque of Aleppo (Arabic: جامع حلب الكبير Jāmi‘ Halab al-Kabīr) or the Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo (جامع بني أمية بحلب Jāmi‘ Bani Umayah Bi-Halab) is the largest and one of the oldest mosques in the city of Aleppo, Syria. It is located in al-Jalloum district of the Ancient City of Aleppo, a World Heritage Site, near the entrance to al-Madina Souq. The mosque is purportedly home to the remains of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. It was built in the beginning of the 8th century. However, the current building dates back to the 11th through XIV centuries. The minaret was built in 1090, and was destroyed during fighting in the Syrian civil war in April 2013.
The site of the Great Mosque was once the agora of the Hellenistic period, which later became the garden for the Cathedral of Saint Helena during the Christian era of Roman rule in Syria.
The mosque was built on confiscated land that formerly served as the Cathedral cemetery. According to later traditions, the construction of the earliest mosque on the site was commenced by the Ummayad caliph al-Walid I in 715 and was finished by his successor Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik in 717. Architectural historian K. A. C. Creswell attributes its construction solely to the latter, quoting 13th century Aleppine historian Ibn al-Adim who wrote Sulayman's intent was "to make it equal to the work of his brother al-Walid in the Great Mosque at Damascus." Another tradition claims al-Walid founded the mosque using materials from the so-called "Church of Cyrrus."
However, architectural historian Jere L. Bacharach writes that the most likely patron of the mosque was Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik, a brother of al-Walid and Sulayman who served as the governor of the local province (Jund Qinnasrin) sometime prior to 710 until at least the early period of Sulayman's rule. Accordingly, this would explain the belief that the mosque's construction took place during the reign of both caliphs. Moreover, Maslamah's governorship of Qinnasrin was largely ignored by the early Arabic historians, who focused their attention on his campaigns against the Byzantine Empire and the Armenians, and his governorship over the provinces of Iraq, Iranian Azerbaijan, Upper Mesopotamia and Armenia. Bacharach further states that Maslamah's commissioning of a large congregational mosque in Aleppo, a major base from which to attack the Byzantines, would have "been appropriate, if not necessary.
In the second half of the XI century, the Mirdasids controlled Aleppo and built a single-domed fountain in the mosque's courtyard. At the northwest corner of the mosque, the 45-meter high minaret was built by the Shia Muslim qadi ("chief Islamic judge") of Aleppo, Abu'l Hasan Muhammad in 1090, during the reign of Seljuk governor Aq Sunqur al-Hajib. Its construction was finished in 1094 during Tutush's rule. The architect of the project was Hasan ibn Mufarraj al-Sarmini.
The mosque was restored and expanded by the Zengid sultan Nur al-Din in 1159 after a great fire that had destroyed the earlier Ummayad structure; In 1260 the mosque was razed by the Mongols.
The Mamluks (1260-1516) made repairs and alterations. Carved Kufic and nashki inscriptions decorated the entire minaret along with alternate bands of stylized ornaments in patterns and muqarnas. Sultan Qalawun replaced the burnt out mihrab (niche indicating the qibla, or direction to Mecca) in 1285. Later, Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad (1293-1341) had the new minbar ("preacher's pulpit") constructed during his reign.
The courtyard and minaret of the mosque were renovated in 2003.
On 13 October 2012 the mosque was seriously damaged during clashes between the armed groups of the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian Army forces. President Bashar al-Assad issued a presidential decree to form a committee to repair the mosque by the end of 2013.
The mosque was seized by rebel forces in early 2013, and, as of April 2013, is within an area of heavy fighting, with government force stationed 200 meters (660 ft.) away.
On 24 April 2013 the minaret of the mosque was reduced to rubble during an exchange of heavy weapons fire between government forces and rebels during the ongoing Syrian civil war. The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that members of Jabhat al-Nusra detonated explosives inside the minaret, while opposition activists said that the minaret was destroyed by Syrian Army tank fire as part of an offensive. Countering assertions by the state media of Jabhat al-Nusra's involvement, opposition sources described them as rebels from the Tawhid Brigades who were fighting government forces around the mosque. The opposition's main political bloc, the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), condemned the minaret's destruction, calling it "an indelible disgrace" and "a crime against human civilization."
I found interesting blog on the topic. Photos are taken from there.
These photos were taken in the period from April to June 1942.
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria. It is located in the northwest near the border with Turkey and has over 2 million inhabitants.
After two failed sieges by the crusaders (in 1098 and 1124) and a century long occupation by the Mongols it was, after Constantinople, the most important city of the Ottoman Empire.
After WW1 the Aleppo vilayet (Ottoman province) was split between Turkey and Syria. In 1925 the proclamation of an independent State of Aleppo by the French administration was canceled after heavy resistance by Syrian nationalists. A few years later Turkey deprived Aleppo of their access to the sea by annexing the Mediterranean coastal area, leaving Aleppo in isolation in Syria.
The beautiful ancient city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once surrounded by a 5 km long city wall it houses more than 120.000 residents. The worlds largest (13 km long) covered souq-market can be found here. In its center, on the top of a hill, is an impressive citadel. It is considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in the world. (www.robswebstek.com)
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