Al-Shebani School Produced Many Prominent Figures

The antique Al-Shebani School The antique Al-Shebani School is one of the most important schools and historic landmarks in the city of Aleppo due to its religious, cultural and social significance and its various activities.The school is located in the historic heart of Aleppo near central marketplaces and the oldest district in it; al-Jalloum district. Languages, commerce and mathematics were taught at the school, producing several prominent figures such as Dr. Nazem al-Qudsi and many doctors, architects and lawyers.
Headmaster Ali Nasser said that the school was restored as part of a project for reviving the Old City in Aleppo, with the restoration beginning in 1994 and concluding in 2006.
The project also entailed using the school for holding cultural and social activities and events in cooperation with the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), including children festivals, awareness campaigns and youth training workshops.
A part of the school is dedicated to documenting Aleppo\'s architectural, cultural and social history.Another part of the school also serves as a gallery for pictures, dioramas and schematics carried out by the German Development Agency (GIZ) in the Old City, in addition to hosting an institute for teaching German language in cooperation with the German Embassy in Damascus.
According to scholar Abdullah Hajjar, the school is named after an Arab clan originating from Koufa. The clansmen lived in Aleppo and left behind many structures such as Dar al-Hadith near al-Fardous Mosque, Khan al-Shebani inn, and al-Shebani bathhouse.
Hajjar pointed out that teaching at the school began by French monks in 1859, noting that the school was used as a storage facility in 1937 before it was renovated and made a permanent museum and a center for cultural and social activities.