Heghnar Watenpaugh’s Image of an Ottoman City: Imperial Architecture and Urban Experience in Aleppo in the 16th and 17th Centuries argues that the architectural projects in Aleppo, under the patronage of Ottoman officials and local elites, melded Imperial and indigenous styles through a gradual Ottomanization of the city. Further, Watenpaugh posits that the shift in patronage and architectural style during the two centuries mirrors the decentralization of the Ottoman Empire from focused conquest to internal stabilization and trade.

In August 1516, Sultan Selim conquered the Mamluk controlled city of Aleppo. Being predominately Sunni Muslim, and thus having numerous mosques, Selim forwent the tradition of building a new mosque in a newly conquered city. Watenpaugh holds that the Sultan funded only two construction projects, a tower monument and public fountain, immediately following the conquest. Subsequent construction projects were left to Ottoman governors and local elites. In the sixteenth century, he proposes that the Ottoman governors led these efforts toward Ottomanization and urban improvements while in the seventeenth the efforts were taken over by city elites borrowing Ottoman techniques and focusing on local neighborhoods.

“As Aleppo emerged as the node in the profitable long distance-trade linking East and West,” Watenpaugh writes, “the predominately commercial nature of the institutions [constructed in the 16th century] represented the Ottoman drive both to encourage economic development and profit from it.” (p. 60) Using the Khusruwiyya, ‘Ādiliyya, and Bahrāmiyya complexes in addition to studying waqfs, Watenpaugh concludes that the Ottomans in the sixteenth century concentrated predominately on expanding the Mdīneh, or main trade corridor, of Aleppo. Each complex had dual purposes, both as a religious center and a fortified caravansary suitable for large markets. Additionally, the Ottoman governors when funding repairs to local holy sites and shrines, including the Great Mosque of Aleppo, modified the sites to affirm the Empire’s authority. The distinct styling of the new complexes and alterations to the older Muslim shrines blended “canonical Ottoman format” of large domes, interior accommodations and calligraphic style with Aleppo craftsmanship emphasizing local materials and distinct ornamentation endemic to the region. (p. 81) “However,” Watenpaugh maintains, “the momentum of patronage that produced an architecturally unified core through the accumulation of individual endowments waned towards the end of the sixteenth century… as the official Ottoman waqfs diminished in size.” (p. 123)

Forced to deal with rebellions and economic downturns, the Ottomans became less concerned with the periphery as they sought to stabilize the Empire. Watenpaugh argues “rather than privileging a central urban location… the large central monument endowments gave way to smaller architectural complexes that comprised modest neighborhood mosques and dervishes.” (p. 124) Through analyzing several smaller waqfs and takiyyas constructed during the seventeenth century, Watenpaugh concludes the efforts toward Ottomanization were greatly curtailed as Ottoman funding diminished and city elites endowed new waqfs. Ottoman-style minarets and domes, grand and imposing displays of Ottoman power in the previous century, became smaller and more understated in the seventeenth century endeavors. He writes “the emergence of a recognizable local style that built on motifs of the past, combined in new and unexpected ways,” expanded the borders of Aleppo away from the Mdīneh. (p. 174) The focus became local, structured around benefiting neighborhoods on the cities peripherals, and no longer tied to the commercial heart of the city.

This detailed monograph successfully establishes the argument for architectural history, employing Aleppo to illustrate Ottoman imperialism during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Watenpaugh’s analysis contributes to the understanding of how metropole and periphery interact in an imperialistic system synergistically. While the Empire established an Ottoman-controlled trading center in Aleppo, the local elites borrowed the institution of the waqf and funded construction hybridizing local and Imperial styles for the benefit of the populace. The monograph’s reliance on sources is well defended, particularly in the final chapter outlining the documentation found in the metropole and periphery. Further, the work contributes to an understanding of imperial history by studying how building projects and endowments legitimize a conquering power in an urban setting. However, the concise nature of the study, bound to a small selection of complexes and religious sites, raises the question if further evidence exists for his claims in the environs of Aleppo or in other Ottoman cities. Regardless of this singular flaw, Watenpaugh has crafted a convincing, well documented monograph.

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