Jesselyn Cook World News Reporter, The Huffington Post
The photos below, all taken before 2011, show an entirely different Aleppo and highlight the devastating toll of the conflict so far.
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A woman sits at a table in an Aleppo bar on May 21, 2009.
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An aerial view of Aleppo in 1997.
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Children in Aleppo in 2006.
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A man smokes his water pipe in front of the Aleppo citadel on March 18, 2006.
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View from the citadel of Aleppo in 2007.
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A couple stuck in a traffic jam on a bustling street in Aleppo on July 7, 1996.
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A Syrian musician plays during the opening of the festival marking Aleppo as the Islamic cultural capital on March 18, 2006.
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A couple in Aleppo on Oct. 5, 2006.
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Antique dealer Musafi Assal attends to a customer in Aleppo on June 23, 2010.
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Aleppo on Oct. 5, 2006.
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A man asleep inside his shop in Aleppo on Sept. 13, 2002.
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The interior of Sissi House, a storied hotel in Aleppo, on March 20, 2010. It burned down during the Syrian civil war in 2012.
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Syrian dancers perform the the Sufi tannoura dance (also known as the al-darawish or dervish dance) during the ceremony marking Aleppo as the Islamic cultural capital on March 18, 2006.
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A man inside Aleppo’s Al Madina Souk in 2010.
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Bath domes in Aleppo in 2006. Aleppo was famous for its attractive churches, mosques, schools and baths.
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A waiter at the Sheraton in Aleppo holds a plate of food in 2010.
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A cook at Al-Andalos Sweets in Aleppo preparing baklava in 2010.
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People shop at the main market in Aleppo on June 23, 2010.
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View of Aleppo from the city’s citadel on Oct. 21, 2004.
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Syrian men weave traditional rugs in Aleppo on March 18, 2006.
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A sweet shop inside Al Madina Souk in Aleppo in 2010.
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A man drinks tea after a bath at the Hammam Yalbougha an-Nasry in Aleppo on Sept. 13, 2002.
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Famous Aleppo architecture in 2006.
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Tourists walk past a trinket shop in Aleppo on June 23, 2010.
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A view of Aleppo and its historic citadel on June 23, 2010.
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Tourists at the entrance of Aleppo’s citadel on June 23, 2010.
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People prepare kebabs in Hagop, an old restaurant in Aleppo, on June 23, 2010.
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Members of the Syrian Academy of Gastronomy taste Aleppine cuisine at a restaurant on Oct. 21, 2007.
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Two people take an evening walk in Aleppo on March 20, 2010.
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Tourists visit the ruins at the Church of Saint Simeon Stylites on March 25, 2010.
Aleppo Now :
Source: Aleppo Before The War: A Poignant Look Back At A Once-Thriving Metropolis | Huffington Post