[ARAB CITIES / PHOTOGRAPHY] Souvenir d'Alep (Syrie). / Panoramique d'Alep. [i.e. Panorama of Aleppo]

WATTAR FRERES (Edited and probably photographed by).

The Wattar Freres, Aleppo, [ca. 1920's].

Eight-panel folding photographic panorama, preserved in its original light brick-red printed card wrappers, bearing the titles “Souvenir d’Alep (Syrie)” and “Panoramique d’Alep”, together with the publisher’s imprint, “Editeur Wattar Frères, Alep (Syrie)”. Fully extended dimensions: 9 × 112 cm. Text in French. Fold joints reinforced on the verso with tape, apparently at an early date. Overall, a fine copy.

A scarce folding photographic panorama of Aleppo, entitled Panoramique d’Alep, showing one of the oldest and most important cities of the Islamic Middle East in the early twentieth century. The panorama includes the city's famous citadel, numerous mosque minarets, traditional residential quarters, public buildings, gardens, and open spaces on the outskirts.

The photograph provides a detailed view of Aleppo's historic architecture and urban landscape before the extensive changes of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Published, and possibly photographed, by the Wattar Brothers (Wattar Frères), well-known and prolific photographers and publishers active in Syria and southeastern Anatolia, including Kilis and Aintab (modern Gaziantep). The Wattar family remained active in Syria until the early 2000s (Şerifoğlu).

The panorama is also an important historical record of Aleppo before the widespread destruction of its architectural heritage during the Syrian Civil War, showing buildings, neighbourhoods, and architectural features that have since been damaged, destroyed, or altered.