Kahramanmaras Earthquake Destroys Landmarks Stood for Thousands of Years — Here Are the Most Prominent

The earthquake that struck southern Turkiye and northern Syria on February 6, 2023, was described as devastating. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake was followed by hundreds of violent aftershocks.

It left behind another catastrophe related to the civilization of that ancient region, as it crushed prominent historical landmarks, including ancient castles and mosques built thousands of years ago.

The earthquake caused massive damage in 10 Turkish states: Kahramanmaras, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Osmaniye, Hatay, Kilis, and Malatya, in addition to the governorates of Aleppo, Idlib, and Raqqa in northern Syria.

Among the losses of the horrific earthquake are a group of monuments and historical buildings that were among the most prominent cultural and religious landmarks of this region.

 

Gaziantep Castle

Gaziantep Castle was built 2000 years ago on top of a large hill during the era of the ancient Hittite Empire.

The castle withstood during the era of the most powerful kingdoms and states, from the Persians to the Romans, until the Muslims' conquest in 661 AD.

The historians of the Ottoman Empire wrote that the Gaziantep castle was the first building that Sultan Selim I's army was keen to enter and raise its flags on its walls.

The Ottomans worked on constantly renewing the castle so that the keys to the castle door remained in their hands until the fall of the empire and the establishment of the modern Turkish Republic in 1924.

After that, the castle witnessed the heroics of the Turkish army in front of the invading French forces during the War of Independence (1919 to 1923).

In 2000, it was developed into a panoramic museum documenting Turkish history and the most important battles the army fought and won. It became a destination for visitors and is considered one of Turkiye's most important archaeological sites.

Then it was classified as a world heritage by UNESCO in the list of creative cities.

But that ancient history could not resist the severity of the devastating Kahramanmaras earthquake, and large parts of the castle collapsed.

 

Habib-i Neccar Mosque

Among the most prominent monuments that collapsed by the devastating earthquake was the Habib-i Neccar Mosque, the prominent religious landmark in Turkiye.

The mosque was built by the honorable Companion, Abu Ubayda bin al-Jarrah, in 638 AD (16 AH) after its conquest of the city of Antakya during the era of Omar ibn al-Khattab, the second Rashidun caliph.

This mosque was built in a low area between two mountains in the center of Antakya in the state of Hatay. According to the Turkish government, it is attributed to Habib-i Neccar, who is believed to be the "believer of the Yassin family" mentioned in the Holy Qur'an.

The mosque was considered an artistic and architectural masterpiece and was surrounded by the buildings of the old Ottoman religious schools, which are characterized by the simplicity of design.

The courtyard of the mosque included a fountain from the works of the nineteenth century, and the minaret in the Ottoman style was built in the seventeenth century.

Throughout history, the mosque was destroyed more than once, and successive Turkish governments rebuilt it until its last development in 2006.

One of the Turkish customs of the mosque is that after every Friday prayer, the people there distribute food, as many see that this is their duty for the souls of those who sacrificed themselves to spread the doctrine of monotheism in their lands.

Likewise, the worshipers, after each prayer, used to taste the sweets, and in the month of Ramadan, this ritual takes on a great festive character.

The scenes of the collapsed mosque were sad for the Turks and Muslims.

 

Great Mosque of Malatya

Among the great monuments that were crushed by the Kahramanmaras earthquake is the historic Yeni Cami (New Mosque) in Malatya, southeastern Turkiye.

The mosque was built at first by Hocazade Haci Yusuf in 1843, then it was completely demolished, leaving only part of the minaret, due to a "major earthquake" that struck Malatya in 1893, so the people decided to collect donations and re-establish the mosque.

The construction was completed in 1912 with the support of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, as the architectural style of the mosque was distinguished by being Ottoman, topped by a central dome stable on four bases, and surrounded on the four sides by cylindrical vaults, and four other domes in the corners.

As for the upper part, it was built entirely of stones cut from the rocks, while columns of juniper trees were planted in the ground because it was clay, and then the foundations were built on top of them.

However, the mosque was attacked during World War I (1914–1918), as well as the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1923), to be temporarily restored at the beginning of the Republican era.

In 1964, the Directorate of Foundations in the region worked to restore the mosque again, but in a better way.

The traces of bullets that covered the top of the mosque were removed, in addition to the renewal of the cement shell and interior decorations, and large crescents were installed above the minaret.

In 2005, the Directorate of Foundations completely restored the mosque before it was demolished again by the recent earthquake.

 

Aleppo Citadel

According to the report of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, dated February 10, 2023, the Syrian governorate of Aleppo is a meeting point for ancient civilizations, and many of its historical landmarks were damaged, especially its castle.

Aleppo was previously destroyed by 60% in 1822 due to a major earthquake, but the castle remained intact until the last Kahramanmaras earthquake hit it completely.

The General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums in Syria announced in a statement that parts of the Ottoman mill inside the castle had fallen. Parts of the northeastern defensive walls also cracked and fell.

Large parts of the dome of the minaret of the Great Mosque of Aleppo's Citadel, whose entrances were shattered, collapsed, and parts of its stones fell.

The Citadel of Aleppo is one of the oldest monuments in the Middle East, and its inauguration as an impregnable fortress dates back to 281 BC.

The castle is a unique example of military architecture in the Levant, and it played an important role throughout the ages in defending the city against the invaders, from the Persians, Byzantines to Tatars, and thanks to the citadel, the city of Aleppo preserved its prestige.

One of the advantages of the castle is its location in the center of the old city on a hill in the form of a cone, about 50m above the city level.

It is surrounded by a semi-circular frame and a number of towers dating back to different civilizations—Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, and Ottoman.

Inside the castle, there is an integrated city of buildings, mosques, halls, warehouses, squares, a theater, shops, and many monuments.