Syria’s civil war began in march of 2011 and soon spread to Aleppo, Syria's largest city, turning it into a battlefield, driving millions out, killing thousands, and drastically changing the urban landscape. Recent advances by the Syrian government forces against rebels who held large parts of the city led to a ceasefire last week and the evacuation of fighters and civilians. Gathered here are images of Aleppo as it looked prior to 2011, and, in some cases, how those same sites appear today, after nearly six years of war.
A combination picture shows Aleppo's Umayyad mosque in Syriaon before it was damaged (left), on October 6, 2010, and after it was damaged (right) during the Syrian Civil War, on December 17, 2016.#
A combination picture shows Shahba Mall, one of the largest commercial shopping centres in Syria, before the war, on December 12, 2009 (left) and after it was damaged (right) on October 16, 2014.#
On March 7, 2006, the sun rises on Aleppo. Aleppo, along with Damascus and Sana'a, is one of the three oldest inhabited cities in human history, added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1986.#
People browse inside the Aleppo Souk, the largest covered market in the world, with an approximate length of 13 kilometers, on January 5, 2011 in northern Syria.#
A waiter brings drinks to the bar of the Baron Hotel in Aleppo, Syria, on September 13, 2002. Built in 1911, the hotel was a relic of a more glamorous era whose past guests included the Shah of Iran, Agatha Christie and Lawrence of Arabia. As of 2016, the Baron Hotel still stands, but hasn't had a paying guest in years, is falling into disrepair, and has housed numerous refugees fleeing the violence all around.#
Stuart Freedman / In Pictures Ltd. / Corbis via Getty
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