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28 Before-And-After Pics Reveal What War Did To The Largest City In Syria
Aleppo, Syria, is probably the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. With the first settlers dating to 6 millennia B.C., it has amassed incomprehensible amounts of history behind its walls. Aleppo used to be the biggest city in Syria, but since 2012 July the 19th, when horrors of the Syrian War ensued, now Damascus, Syria's capital, is the largest.
The Syrian Civil War, still happening today, has demanded the deaths of thousands of civilians. With the center of it all being Aleppo, the many barrel bombs dropped from helicopters have destroyed what used to be the oldest city in the world. The hammams, souqs, basilicas, and the ancient Old Town had turned to rubble because of this dispute. Not to mention the many peoples' lives it has destroyed.
Now, we understand that these war pictures of the great city before and after the war are not our usual cheery topic to write about, but sometimes it's good to have a reality check.
Scroll down below to see the destruction of the UNESCO World Heritage site in our picture list of Syria before and after the war.
This post may include affiliate links.
A few years back I sat there and had an amazing meal in one of the friendliest cities I've ever visited. Now... an unbelievable tragedy.
These photos make you think about how war can destroy things in an instant that took months or years to construct. And when it's a person who's destroyed, there's no way to "rebuild."
My grandparents born in there.. It breaks my heart see how destroyed this city is ????????
Such a beautiful country, what a waist. My heart felt sympathy to you all past and present.
Breaks my heart to see my country like this :(
Load More Replies...It breaks my heart to see so much devastation to beautiful historical sites and to think of the suffering of the Syrian people. Hate and fear and power; a lethal combination
I feel such sadness and utter anger at how my own country is handling this and has the audacity to close its borders to the refugees. Can't even imagine what it would be like to see my home, my town and country destroyed like this, having to escape and then be turned away everywhere. Feel such sorrow and shame ????
I can't believe the destruction and for what? It's no wonder the Syrians are fleeing.
It happened not so long ago in Croatia and Bosnia... only few (international) cared then, only few cares now for Syria. Time passes, history repeats itself with a little modification, people never learn from it...
I sit in the comfort of my home and feel profoundly sad. Who can be pleased they have done this did it make someone's life better?
There are no words to express how heavy this makes my heart - how could we let this happen?!?!?!?!?!?
So unbelievably sad, the senselessness of it all just compounds the tragedy!! When will the powers that be in this world finally allow us to just be so we might all learn to live as true brothers and sisters of the world!!!
i'm speechless. This was a beautiful city so pretty and look what war has done. I cant imagine what all those people are going through in this warzone. God be with them.
Please can I use these images for my art project for exhibition 2017
Please can I use these images in my textile art for exhibition 2017
Why all this Violence over oil pipe line Common! What is wrong with you leaders in the world! Nothing is sacred except your greed!
Aleppo was such a gorgeous city. It's heartbreaking to see the people and their home devastated by war.
It is so sad to see such beauty destroyed..and for what?? Mans desire for power..
Now they want to rewrite the history of lies for the future generation and fake bible shame on u super powers u control the whole World by barrel of guns!!!
There are two side of any story but Syria war has only one side . The US +Israeli interest and that's it . Saudi now capitulated to US strategy is a unique example . Only problem is Russia and Turkey until it polarizes to a coalition between Turkey , Iran and Russia which leaves Syria as only interesting as a battle Here , the biggest loser will be The Saudis and the Israel . No worries ! As the Aussies say . Few million dead what do they care ? Their hands are bloody any way before or after the war .
Sorry, but you are being kind of ignorant. Look at how the conflict has started, it has started as a civil war. Israel was not even on stage. If Israel is part of this war now, it is just because of the interests of Iran along with Syria, for them Israel and its people are outsiders in the region. Shame on you for being ignorant. Be serious to yourself, and for the truth! Surely the great powers are making the war last longer, but look at all the details before posting eccentric conclusions elsewhere. Don't forget that Iran, Turkey and specially Russia are involved in this war, too.
Load More Replies...A WAR CRIME and a sin against GOD our Creator, that continues to grow and goes "unpunished" The innocent always die. The World needs a "Turkish Purge" !
I love that this country and it's people are beino bombed to oblivion. May they never forget " Don't mess with the U.S.A..God bless the United States of America. Donald Murray
Or Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia :/ bombed by Russians?!
Load More Replies...Thank you America; another master piece of murder added to your CV of the last seventy years. "From Korea to Here"
Man it has started as a civil war because of corruption, not because of democracy, but because of the lack of it.
Load More Replies...My brain actually cannot accept this information. The destruction is quite inconceivable.
What we see in pictures is only collateral damages, what can't be seen is a lot more; human sufferings, innocent people killed including women and children. Hospitals, schools and other educational institutions, place of worship ect. Displaced persons facing other brutalities of all sorts. Why all these sufferings to a country which was considered a peaceful place to live and no record of human rights violations. Then why all this continues to go on and on, what the united nation and the civilized world is doing, what is the hidden agenda behind the brutal human sufferings?
Some of the oldest Christian churches and Christian people are in Syria.
Donald this was an absolute crime against humanity. I can only assume you are uneducated.
I live in Korea, and that Kia car made me realize how recent the "before" pictures were.. you STILL see those cars rolling around in Korea in shiny condition. It's difficult to believe that such a prosperous country is in such ruins now, until you see the one thing that pours the reality into you. I thought the before pictures were from the 1990s.
I am American and I have wanted to go to Syria for my whole life because if the amazing and incredible history there. I went to Ireland and stood in ruins where humans were traced back to have lived there in the year 3,000 BC 3000 years before “Christ”. It was your country that gave safe havens for “terrorists” I use that word in quotations because we can spend decades defining and debating what that means but to me what it means is the first safe haven for dangerous people to go out beyond their walls to other countries and kill innocent civilians. Yeah sure it it unsafe for the innocent people that live there but think first to blame your own government for protecting these dangerous people then the countries who are victims of these attacks who have said no more against the irresponsible and incomprehensible dangerous done. If you really think the Americans or the cia or the Jews are mindless psychopaths and killsheet orders how did the names get there in the first place?
Really depressing looking through these. What was a very prosperous country now looks like a building site. I am so terribly sorry to be from 1 of the countries that caused this. We should have left well alone instead of all the time thinking we know better.
Reminds me of the Maze Runner Scorch Trials in the movie. BTDubbs, the movie was terrible, book much better.
It's amazing and at the same time so sad to see what Syrians and its unique heritage has been through. Thank you Hanna Karim for don't let us forget Syria is the acient home town from all of us. I have been there was. I am looking for to come back
This is how "Importing Democracy" looks like! Someone should make a post about Libya & Iraq too! Someone rightly stated- what benefit did this war bring to Syrian people? With Assad or against Assad- was it worth it?!
This is so heartbreaking. How can humans do this to each other. Why do we feel the need to impose our views and beliefs and preferred ways to others? Can't we just be accepting of the world and the differences that exist in it?
Through choice, I am not a religious person. I do not follow a god. I am a deeply spiritual person and I accept all human beings. What I see on a daily basis reading newspapers and editorials online and hardcopies, tears my spirit and soul apart. I keep fighting for all people suffering from injustice. I cannot look away. My spirit and my soul repairs itself because I choose to see that the billions of people on this earth are more good. I choose to see the good in people. To the survivors of Aleppo, a city I have read so much about and always wished to visit, I wish you peace, love and hope. Do not douse your own inner spirit.
Load More Replies...My first thought was: People lived there. Not anymore. They weren't just buildings, they were homes and businesses and places of worship. Not anymore.
Powerful, unfortunate and really sad. What took centuries to get going and flourish, be destoyed and dimolished in seconds... and those innocent lives taken... damn our world.. damn the high forces who play with human life as kids with toy soldiers! :/
It's so sad.. All these lives that were lost just for the sake of Assad... Life is a thing that everyone deserves to live.
Lucie ...don't believe all that is served to you trough mass media. This situation is so complex that even the ones that started this don't always know who is who. You blame it on Assad because this is what you should think. I'm really curious what Syrians think...and who do they blame. As I could see is that Assad builded a prosperous country and tried to be free of US and Russia influence. It's the same script as in Lebanon... but it's my opinion and I have no access to any conclusive information. We only get served...
Load More Replies...I wish I could live in a world where people could live in peace, heartbreaking to see this :(
exactly. people will do so much more to help a broken country if it's in europe, or people are white.
Load More Replies...And to think many people believe we are doing good for the world. And look how beautiful Syria was before all the destruction.
Dear God, when will it stop? So many lives lost. So much beauty gone. Only a psychopath would destroy his country and his people and call himself a ruler. A ruler of what, the dead and destroyed? One day Syria will rebuild for sure. Hate can't sustain itself forever.
Do you even for one second believe that the syrian government wanted this? It was the US and their US-saudi backed terrorist groups that did this. And as you say, "only a psychopath" Assad is may be narcissist, but the psychopaths are the neocons. Look it up if you aren't familiar with that name.
Load More Replies...I so wanted to visit Syria. I hope America and Britain will help rebuild this all.
It should've been called "What the US Did to the Largest City in Syria".
"It was marked by the Syrian army’s use of barrel bombs dropped from helicopters, killing thousands of people" Do you even realize that most damage on the pictures(citadel, hotel, mosque) was never under rebel control to get bombed by barrel bombs?
May Allah keep you're all in sabr, aamiin. I feel so much sad and anger to see all the destruction. Be safe please.
So heartbroken 💔 seeing this unnecessary unbelievable human atrocities a country just demolished and for what reason there is no reason to ever make any of this ok... Being of Syrian heritage I'll never get to visit the country my grandparents were born in.. I have relatives who I don't even know who I probably will never have a chance to know now
This is sad, just sad to know this isn't done by natural, no this is done by war and violent behaviors. Just sad.
The thing that gets me pissed of the most is that I'm Syrian and that my country is changed into destruction. I hope it ends really soon. Btw you should make another one about how people are leaving now and why a lot of us left the country and why the rest didn't.
It Breaks my heart. I lived and worked in Damascus many years ago. Have some friends there and I even don't know if they are still alive. And Damascus was the most beautiful city I've seen in my life. Great, friendly and very helpful people. Tears in my eyes.
The devastation was so bad that the color of the sky was different in many of the before and after photos. Now try taking pictures that were taken under the same conditions. Beautiful nighttime photos aren't going to look the same on a cloudy day; photos shot on a clear sunny day aren't going to look the same when the after photo is shot on a cloudy day. Even the different angles can have an influencing affect on viewers. I am not trying to downplay the devastation but the photographer isn't exactly being honest here.
God bless America, we are the chosen, another country is filled with demoncrazy
You can see children in Europe, America and many other countries PLAY war! And then the kids in Syria, who goes through this and actually take a part in the war themselves! Some children do NOT play war:(
This is what military interventions do. They destabilize countries and create civil wars.
WILL THE PEOPLE OF SYRIA WILL LEARN FROM IT - TO LIVE PEACEFULLY AND RELISH THE GOOD DAYS RATHER THAN KILL EACH OTHER IN THE NAME OF ALLAH. KEEP RELIGION ASIDE AND LIVE IN HARMONY -- WHICH SEEMS NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE WHEN EVEN A SINGLE PERSON WITH THE MENTALITY OF ISIS AND PRESIDENT ASAD IS ALIVE
It's sad to see that wars still occur. My question is, what do people gain from such atrocity? We need peace, not war. War destroys not only countries, but it destroys the lives of us humans and animals, which are two of the most important things. I wish there was a way for everyone in the world, get together, and stop war in its tracks. My thoughts go out to those people who have lost those closest to them. I hope Syria can rebuild soon.
I've been to Iraq twice... Baghdad is so torn apart it's amazing... once such a beautiful city...the Clover Leaf is completely destroyed...the green zone is decent because it's guarded... to be one of those that destroyed such beautiful cities, I apologize. These pix broke my heart. Such a beautiful country torn apart by hate.
Like the grat MG used to sign: "what's going on? " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-kA3UtBj4M
No matter what it will never ever be the same in that country, I used to love their new potatoes when they came into season, and the Turkish, they are better than our British new potatoes even though they are grow with English/scottish seed potatoes shipped from the UK.
I'm so sorry about this :( it's the war my dear!!! this what happened to Lebanon before and still :( but after all life goes on
Extremely sad. Wish I had a chance to see these places before they were destroyed
My, my our president keeps insisting that Islam is a peaceful religion It isn't a religion at all it is a complete political system that even tries to control what one thinks. The savages over there in the muslim countries have been destroying things, places and killing people for centuries!! Those savages have no respect for anything except their goats!
My Muslim friends say these people are a sect. What they believe has nothing to do with Islam.
Load More Replies...My view on this is that the Western media narrative blaming ISIS for attacks all over the world is entirely implausible. A decade ago it was Al Qaeda, but that one wore thin and, indeed, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook revealed it as a charade (just before his death). So Al Qaeda has been rebranded as "ISIS." What does that mean? A blanket term to cover both the Jihadists fighting in the Middle East and radicalized groups and individuals who commit terrorist attacks in the name of Jihad abroad. The objective is to conjure up an image of a highly organized Islamic army in the Middle East which presents a direct threat to the West, and thereby justifying an ongoing American presence in the region and the astronomical budget this entails. So what's the endgame? In the short term the objective seems to be to control the oil industry in the region, break up the Shia Crescent and isolate Iran. This can only be achieved by removing Assad, one way or another. But after the shambles of
sad, can't help but shed tears especially to the innocents. this isis has really no regard for lives of the people around them.
Maybe I am a bad person, but this does so much more to me than seeing people die... This is something that has survived for thousands of yrs
You mean, what US backed terrorists did to Syria. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-09/us-government-reveals-3000-ton-delivery-weapons-and-ammo-al-qaeda-linked-syrian-rebe
People, spread the message of where these war policies come from. Want the Middle Eastern wars to end? Then the world has to get together and seek out this place that is responsible for the current war policies. American Israel Public Affairs Committee WebsiteDirections Public Services Address: 251 H St NW, Washington, DC 20001 Phone: (202) 639-5200 THIS IS WHERE JEWS INFESTING AMERICA GET TOGETHER IN ORDER TO COME UP WITH WAR POLICIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AS WELL AS STEAL BILLIONS OF AMERICAN TAX DOLLARS TO FUND ISRAEL AND THESE PERPETUAL WARS. You want this to end. END AIPAC. NOW YOU KNOW.
Courtesy of JEWISH ZIONIST RUN "AMERICAN" GOVERNMENT. It's time for the American people to wake up to what their zionist government is doing.
It's amazing and at the same time so sad to see what Syrians and its unique heritage has been through. Thank you Hanna Karim for don't let us forget Syria is the acient home town from all of us. I have been there was. I am looking for to come back
This is how "Importing Democracy" looks like! Someone should make a post about Libya & Iraq too! Someone rightly stated- what benefit did this war bring to Syrian people? With Assad or against Assad- was it worth it?!
This is so heartbreaking. How can humans do this to each other. Why do we feel the need to impose our views and beliefs and preferred ways to others? Can't we just be accepting of the world and the differences that exist in it?
Through choice, I am not a religious person. I do not follow a god. I am a deeply spiritual person and I accept all human beings. What I see on a daily basis reading newspapers and editorials online and hardcopies, tears my spirit and soul apart. I keep fighting for all people suffering from injustice. I cannot look away. My spirit and my soul repairs itself because I choose to see that the billions of people on this earth are more good. I choose to see the good in people. To the survivors of Aleppo, a city I have read so much about and always wished to visit, I wish you peace, love and hope. Do not douse your own inner spirit.
Load More Replies...My first thought was: People lived there. Not anymore. They weren't just buildings, they were homes and businesses and places of worship. Not anymore.
Powerful, unfortunate and really sad. What took centuries to get going and flourish, be destoyed and dimolished in seconds... and those innocent lives taken... damn our world.. damn the high forces who play with human life as kids with toy soldiers! :/
It's so sad.. All these lives that were lost just for the sake of Assad... Life is a thing that everyone deserves to live.
Lucie ...don't believe all that is served to you trough mass media. This situation is so complex that even the ones that started this don't always know who is who. You blame it on Assad because this is what you should think. I'm really curious what Syrians think...and who do they blame. As I could see is that Assad builded a prosperous country and tried to be free of US and Russia influence. It's the same script as in Lebanon... but it's my opinion and I have no access to any conclusive information. We only get served...
Load More Replies...I wish I could live in a world where people could live in peace, heartbreaking to see this :(
exactly. people will do so much more to help a broken country if it's in europe, or people are white.
Load More Replies...And to think many people believe we are doing good for the world. And look how beautiful Syria was before all the destruction.
Dear God, when will it stop? So many lives lost. So much beauty gone. Only a psychopath would destroy his country and his people and call himself a ruler. A ruler of what, the dead and destroyed? One day Syria will rebuild for sure. Hate can't sustain itself forever.
Do you even for one second believe that the syrian government wanted this? It was the US and their US-saudi backed terrorist groups that did this. And as you say, "only a psychopath" Assad is may be narcissist, but the psychopaths are the neocons. Look it up if you aren't familiar with that name.
Load More Replies...I so wanted to visit Syria. I hope America and Britain will help rebuild this all.
It should've been called "What the US Did to the Largest City in Syria".
"It was marked by the Syrian army’s use of barrel bombs dropped from helicopters, killing thousands of people" Do you even realize that most damage on the pictures(citadel, hotel, mosque) was never under rebel control to get bombed by barrel bombs?
May Allah keep you're all in sabr, aamiin. I feel so much sad and anger to see all the destruction. Be safe please.
So heartbroken 💔 seeing this unnecessary unbelievable human atrocities a country just demolished and for what reason there is no reason to ever make any of this ok... Being of Syrian heritage I'll never get to visit the country my grandparents were born in.. I have relatives who I don't even know who I probably will never have a chance to know now
This is sad, just sad to know this isn't done by natural, no this is done by war and violent behaviors. Just sad.
The thing that gets me pissed of the most is that I'm Syrian and that my country is changed into destruction. I hope it ends really soon. Btw you should make another one about how people are leaving now and why a lot of us left the country and why the rest didn't.
It Breaks my heart. I lived and worked in Damascus many years ago. Have some friends there and I even don't know if they are still alive. And Damascus was the most beautiful city I've seen in my life. Great, friendly and very helpful people. Tears in my eyes.
The devastation was so bad that the color of the sky was different in many of the before and after photos. Now try taking pictures that were taken under the same conditions. Beautiful nighttime photos aren't going to look the same on a cloudy day; photos shot on a clear sunny day aren't going to look the same when the after photo is shot on a cloudy day. Even the different angles can have an influencing affect on viewers. I am not trying to downplay the devastation but the photographer isn't exactly being honest here.
God bless America, we are the chosen, another country is filled with demoncrazy
You can see children in Europe, America and many other countries PLAY war! And then the kids in Syria, who goes through this and actually take a part in the war themselves! Some children do NOT play war:(
This is what military interventions do. They destabilize countries and create civil wars.
WILL THE PEOPLE OF SYRIA WILL LEARN FROM IT - TO LIVE PEACEFULLY AND RELISH THE GOOD DAYS RATHER THAN KILL EACH OTHER IN THE NAME OF ALLAH. KEEP RELIGION ASIDE AND LIVE IN HARMONY -- WHICH SEEMS NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE WHEN EVEN A SINGLE PERSON WITH THE MENTALITY OF ISIS AND PRESIDENT ASAD IS ALIVE
It's sad to see that wars still occur. My question is, what do people gain from such atrocity? We need peace, not war. War destroys not only countries, but it destroys the lives of us humans and animals, which are two of the most important things. I wish there was a way for everyone in the world, get together, and stop war in its tracks. My thoughts go out to those people who have lost those closest to them. I hope Syria can rebuild soon.
I've been to Iraq twice... Baghdad is so torn apart it's amazing... once such a beautiful city...the Clover Leaf is completely destroyed...the green zone is decent because it's guarded... to be one of those that destroyed such beautiful cities, I apologize. These pix broke my heart. Such a beautiful country torn apart by hate.
Like the grat MG used to sign: "what's going on? " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-kA3UtBj4M
No matter what it will never ever be the same in that country, I used to love their new potatoes when they came into season, and the Turkish, they are better than our British new potatoes even though they are grow with English/scottish seed potatoes shipped from the UK.
I'm so sorry about this :( it's the war my dear!!! this what happened to Lebanon before and still :( but after all life goes on
Extremely sad. Wish I had a chance to see these places before they were destroyed
My, my our president keeps insisting that Islam is a peaceful religion It isn't a religion at all it is a complete political system that even tries to control what one thinks. The savages over there in the muslim countries have been destroying things, places and killing people for centuries!! Those savages have no respect for anything except their goats!
My Muslim friends say these people are a sect. What they believe has nothing to do with Islam.
Load More Replies...My view on this is that the Western media narrative blaming ISIS for attacks all over the world is entirely implausible. A decade ago it was Al Qaeda, but that one wore thin and, indeed, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook revealed it as a charade (just before his death). So Al Qaeda has been rebranded as "ISIS." What does that mean? A blanket term to cover both the Jihadists fighting in the Middle East and radicalized groups and individuals who commit terrorist attacks in the name of Jihad abroad. The objective is to conjure up an image of a highly organized Islamic army in the Middle East which presents a direct threat to the West, and thereby justifying an ongoing American presence in the region and the astronomical budget this entails. So what's the endgame? In the short term the objective seems to be to control the oil industry in the region, break up the Shia Crescent and isolate Iran. This can only be achieved by removing Assad, one way or another. But after the shambles of
sad, can't help but shed tears especially to the innocents. this isis has really no regard for lives of the people around them.
Maybe I am a bad person, but this does so much more to me than seeing people die... This is something that has survived for thousands of yrs
You mean, what US backed terrorists did to Syria. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-09/us-government-reveals-3000-ton-delivery-weapons-and-ammo-al-qaeda-linked-syrian-rebe
People, spread the message of where these war policies come from. Want the Middle Eastern wars to end? Then the world has to get together and seek out this place that is responsible for the current war policies. American Israel Public Affairs Committee WebsiteDirections Public Services Address: 251 H St NW, Washington, DC 20001 Phone: (202) 639-5200 THIS IS WHERE JEWS INFESTING AMERICA GET TOGETHER IN ORDER TO COME UP WITH WAR POLICIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AS WELL AS STEAL BILLIONS OF AMERICAN TAX DOLLARS TO FUND ISRAEL AND THESE PERPETUAL WARS. You want this to end. END AIPAC. NOW YOU KNOW.
Courtesy of JEWISH ZIONIST RUN "AMERICAN" GOVERNMENT. It's time for the American people to wake up to what their zionist government is doing.