1S9 



ALESSANDRIA. 



ALESSANDRIA. 



and Jews of Aleppo, reside in respective quarters of the city. The 

 immediate environs of the town are fertile and well-cultivated, and 

 both banks of the river are laid out in gardens famous for their 

 plantations of pistachio-trees. Aleppo is the cleanest town in Syria. 



The city had formerly a considerable trade with England by the 

 port of Iskenderun ; before the tarthquaie of 1822 its manufactures 

 of shawls, silks, cottons, 'gold and silver, Ate., were very considerable. 

 It is still the commercial entrepot for the trade between Turkey and 

 Asia Minor on the west, and Persia and Upper Arabia on the east ; 

 and its position, with its large warehouses, its bazaars, and ready 

 communication with the Euphrates, would always render it a place of 

 extensive trade, were these advantages accompanied by a steady 

 government which could guarantee security of life and property. 

 Whilst Mehemet All held Syria the trade of Aleppo was rapidly 

 increasing, because under Ibrahim Pacha security was extended to 

 travelling merchants and their caravans. The woven fabrics of 

 Aleppo were formerly famous all over the east : those still manufac- 

 tured consist of silk stuffs with gold and silver thread, silk and cotton 

 striped or flowered, and striped cottons called nankins. In all about 

 4000 looms are sometimes employed in the production of these 

 stuffs, which form an important item in the exports of Aleppo. 

 There are also 30 factories manufacturing soap from oil; 100 

 dyeing and print works ; 15 workshops of gold and silver thread. 

 About 70 Mussulman, 30 Christian, and 10 Jewish houses were then 

 engaged in the trade with Europe, or in the sale of European 

 commodities. There were also several bankers. Foreign consuls 

 reside in Aleppo. 



The imports from Europe, chiefly from Great Britain, France, 

 Italy, and Germany, comprise sugar, coffee, indigo, cochineal, cop- 

 peras, tin ban and plates, pepper, pimento, sal ammoniac, cotton 

 twist and yarn, broad-cloth, red caps called tarbouches, printed 

 handkerchiefs, glass ware, coral, French silks and velvets, dye-woods, 

 unbleached and white cotton cloth, muslins, cotton prints, iron- 

 mongery and steel ware, earthenware, window-glass, writing and 

 packing paper, rice, cambrics, cotton crapes, piece goods, &c. 



The ports of Aleppo are Iskenderun and Latakia, whence goods 

 are continually being conveyed on mules and camels, the number 

 of animals in each caravan varying from ten to one hundred. 

 Aleppo supplies not only its own population, and that of the 

 surrounding country, with the articles named, but also distributes 

 them by caravans among the people of Armenia, Marash, Orfa, 

 Diyar-Bekr, Mardin, and Mossul. A caravan is sent to Bagdad once a 

 year. 



Of the native products exported from Aleppo to Europe it is 

 impossible to give a Correct account. They consist mainly of silk, 

 cotton, wool, galls, scammony, and camels' hair ; and are shipped on 

 Aleppo account from Tarsus, Latakia, and Iskenderun. 



The ancient name of the town was Chaleb, or Chalybon, which was 

 changed by Seleucug Nicator Into Bercca. It continued to be called 

 it name until its conquest by the Arabs under Abu Obeidah in 

 63S, when its original name of Chaleb or Haleb was restored. It 

 afterwards became the capital of an independent monarchy under the 

 lultans of the race of Hamadan, during whose rule it appears to have 

 enjoyed great prosperity. In the latter part of the 10th century, 

 Haleb was again united to the Greek empire by the conquests of 

 John ZimUces, emperor of Constantinople. During the crusades 

 Halub was subject to the Seljuke princes. In 1260 it was plundered 

 by the Moguls, and again in 1401 by Timur. It was afterwards 

 annexed to the dominions of the Matneluk sultans of Egypt, but was 

 conquered by Selim I., the Turkish sultan, and has siiice that time 

 been subject to the sultans of Constantinople, with the exception of a 

 short period preceding 1840, during which it was held by Mehemet 

 Ali, pasha of Egypt. 



The eylet of Aleppo forms the most northern part of Syria ; it 

 lies between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates. The northern 

 part is occupied by high mountains, known to the ancients under the 

 name of Amanus, which is a branch of the Taurus range. The 

 southern part is sterile and sandy ; but the plains at the foot of the 

 mountains are fertile, and afford good pasturage for the numerous 

 flocks of the Arabs and Kurds, which graze upon them during the 

 greater part of the year. The settled inhabitants only cultivate the 

 land in the hilly districts, which produce wheat and other sorts of 

 corn, melons, olives, cotton, tobacco, figs, &c. ; the level parts of the 

 country are abandoned to the Kurds and Arabs. The heat of the 

 climate is Heldom oppressive. The country is reckoned healthy ; 

 but the inhabitants of Aleppo are very subject to a disease (called 

 Bouton d'Aleppe), which appears under the form of a boil, and is 

 very prevalent throughout the basins of the Euphrates and Tigris. 

 It dies away in about eight months from its appearance. Volney and 

 many other travellers attribute the disease to the badness of the water 

 which the inhabitants drink. 



The eyalet i watered by the Euphrates, the Orontcs, and the Ko'ik. 

 The Kolk rises near Aintab in the north, and passing Aleppo, loses 

 itself in a morass about 16 miles south of the city. 



ALESSANDRIA, an Intemlenzn, or administrative division, of 



uont, is bounded N. and N.E. by the division of Novarn, E. 



by Parma, 8. and S.S.E. by the division '.r (li noa, from which it is 



divided by the Apennines, S.W. by the division of Coni, and W. by 



that of Torino. It is divided into five provinces, which, with their 

 respective areas and population, are as follow : 



The Province of Altssandria is bounded N. by that of Casale, E. by 

 those of Tortona and Voghera, 8. by those of Novi, and Acqui, and 

 W. by the province of Asti. It is intersected by low hills, the 

 offshoots of the Apennines, which sink down into the plain of the Po. 

 The Tanaro runs through this province first in an easterly direction, 

 and having received on its right bank the Belbo, a short distance 

 above the city of Alessandria, and the Orba and the Bormida below 

 it, then turns to the N.E. and enters the Po, which river forms 

 part of the northern boundary. The soil is very fertile, yielding fine 

 crops of wheat, maize, fruits, pulse, madder, and excellent flax. Silk 

 is a most important product. The wines of the valley of the Tanaro 

 have a high repute in the country, but are not well prepared for 

 export, being often acid or sweet. The land is bare of timber. 



The province is divided into ten mandamenti, named after the 

 chief town in each : ALESSANDRIA is described in a separate article. 

 Batiignana, formerly a fortified town, is situated on the right bank 

 of the Po, near the junction of the Tanaro : population, 3000. Bosco, 8 

 miles S.S.E. from Alessandria, was the birth-place of Pope Pius V. It is 

 a small town with 3450 inhabitants. Caisine, S. of Alessandria on the 

 Bormida, is a market-town, with a population of 4000. Castellazzo, 

 also on the Bormida, has a population of 5236. Pelizzano, W. of 

 Alessandria, on the left bank of the Tanaro, on the high road to Asti, 

 has 2200 inhabitants. Oviglio, on the left bank of the Belbo, 6 miles 

 from Alessandria : population, 2300. San-Sahadore, situated on a 

 hill in a fine silk country, 6 miles N.W. from Alessandria, is a market- 

 town, with 6000 inhabitants. Stzze is situated 7 miles S. from 

 Alessandria, in a plain between the Bormida and the Orba : popula- 

 tion, 2585. Valenza, a walled town, entered by four gates, is situated 

 on the right bank of the Po, 6 miles N. from Alessandria, has manu- 

 factories of broad cloth, soap, and leather : population, 7500. The 

 village of Marengo, which gives name to the groat victory gained by 

 Napoleon over the Austrians in the plain near it (June 14, 1800), 

 is at a short distance S.E. from Alessandria, on the road to Tortona. 



The Turin-Genoa railroad crosses the division of Alessandria, 

 passing through Asti, Felizzano, and Alessandria. From this last 

 town it runs S.S.E. to Arquata in the valley of the Scrivia, at the 

 northern foot of the Apennines, where for the present the road 

 terminates. A branch line has been projected to run up the valley 

 of the Bormida from the neighbourhood of Marengo, a little east of 

 Alessandria, to the city of Acqui. 



ALESSANDRIA, a city of Piedmont, chief-town of the province 

 of Alessandria ; situated near the confluence of the Bormida with 

 the Tanaro on the right bank of the latter ; 48 miles by railway 

 E.S.E. from Turin : population, about 44,000, including the garrison. 

 The city was built by the Lombard League in 1168, as a barrier 

 against Frederic Barbarossa and his Ghibeline allies of Pavia and 

 Montferrat. It was declared free, like the other cities of the League, 

 and named Alessandria in honour of Pope Alexander III., the 

 protector of the Lombard League and the strenuous opponent of the 

 emperor. In 1174, Frederic, having returned to Italy, laid siege to 

 the new city, which his soldiers, seeing the houses covered with straw- 

 thatch, called in derision Alessandria rf< lla Paglia (' of the Straw'), 

 a distinctive epithet which it still retains. Frederic, however, after 

 a four months' siege, was obliged disgracefully to retreat from the 

 newly-built walls. After the extinction of the Lombard Republics, 

 Alessandria came under the marquises of Montferrat and finally 

 under the dukes of Savoy. The citadel of Alessandria is one of the 

 bulwarks of Piedmont, and one of the strongest fortresses in Europe. 

 It is larger than many a town, and contains a large square, a parish 

 church, nnd extensive barracks and armouries. One of its most 

 remarkable adjuncts are the sluices, by means of which the Tanaro 

 can be made to inundate the plain adjacent to the city. Alessandria 

 surrendered to Bonaparte in 1796 ; the united forces of Austria and 

 Russia took it in 1799 from the French, to whom however it was 

 restored in 1800, and who held it till 1814, when with the rest of 

 Piedmont it was restored to the king of Sardinia. During the 

 occupation of the town by the French it was surrounded by an 

 extensive line of fortifications by order of Bonaparte, who wanted 

 to make it his chief stronghold in Piedmont; but by the treaty of 

 Vienna these fortifications were razed, and the citadel alone remains. 

 The town has since largely increased in size, and large suburbs have 

 sprung up outside the line of the former walls. Alessandria is well built ; 



