You will hear Aleppo’s copper souk long before you arrive.
BANG BANG BANG PING PING PING BANG BANG BANG.
On a narrow street in Aleppo’s old quarters, copper craftsmen in the Souq Khan al-Nahhaseen congregate as they have for hundreds of years and pound out copper products.
It is a drab and filthy area where dust, ash and grit hang in the air and after visiting it you will certainly feel the need to shower. But like all of Aleppo’s old quarters if you look beyond the dirt you will find a fascinating world where artisans continue the traditions of old.
For some reason, I started collecting nargiles (water pipes) and I would wander the copper souk in search of the base pieces, which were often made of copper. Much of what you would find in the copper souk were old pieces – antiques and heirlooms – but you had to look hard to find them.
I would walk in crowded stalls and step over pieces and look in nooks and crannies and every now and then would find a choice piece. Almost always the pieces would be heavily oxidised and covered with years of grime but the real joy would happen upon returning home and breaking out the Brasso and after a lot of rubbing the true lustre of the piece would finally show itself once again.
