Editing Aleppo (section)

====Souqs and khans====
{{Main|Al-Madina Souq}}
[[File:Aleppo suq - GAR - 7-06.jpg|thumb|A shop in [[al-Madina Souq]] displaying [[Aleppo soap]] products, 2004]]
[[File:Aleppo-suq-Alp.JPG|thumb|Ancient Aleppo, [[Al-Madina Souq]]]]
The city's strategic trading position attracted settlers of all races and beliefs who wished to take advantage of the commercial roads that met in Aleppo from as far as China and [[Mesopotamia]] to the east, Europe to the west, and the [[Fertile Crescent]] and [[Egypt]] to the south. The largest covered [[souq]]-market in the world is in Aleppo, with an approximate length of {{cvt|13|km|abbr=off}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esyria.sy/ealeppo/index.php?p=stories&category=round&filename=201010291220021 |title=eAleppo: The old Souqs of Aleppo (in Arabic) |publisher=Esyria.sy |access-date=11 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330131845/http://www.esyria.sy/ealeppo/index.php?p=stories&category=round&filename=201010291220021 |archive-date=30 March 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David, ''[http://www.cpamedia.com/article.php?pg=archive&acid=120601100823&aiid=120601101137 Aleppo's Great Bazaar] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140823085443/http://www.cpamedia.com/article.php?pg=archive&acid=120601100823&aiid=120601101137 |date=23 August 2014 }}''</ref>

''[[Al-Madina Souq]]'', as it is locally known, is an active trade centre for imported luxury goods, such as raw silk from [[Iran]], spices and dyes from India, and coffee from [[Damascus]]. Souq al-Madina is also home to local products such as wool, agricultural products and soap. Most of the souqs date back to the 14th century and are named after various professions and crafts, hence the wool souq, the copper souq, and so on. Aside from trading, the souq accommodated the traders and their goods in ''khans'' ([[caravanserai]]s) and scattered in the souq. Other types of small market-places were called ''caeserias'' (ﻗﻴﺴﺎﺭﻳﺎﺕ). Caeserias are smaller than khans in their sizes and functioned as workshops for craftsmen. Most of the khans took their names after their location in the souq and function, and are characterized by their façades, entrances and fortified wooden doors.