Shahba Mall


Shahba Mall is a defunct shopping mall in Aleppo, Syria, and was the largest shopping mall in Syria prior to destruction during the Syrian civil war. Located in northern Aleppo, the mall consists of area of building that consists of fashion stores, boutiques, electronics stores, supermarket, restaurants, cafes, an indoor amusement park, a carting circuit, cinema and a four-star hotel with 250 guestrooms. The main anchor inside this mall are Carrefour and Virgin Megastores.
The mall was permanently closed when the mall was damaged during the Syrian civil war in October 16, 2014.

History

Pre-Syrian civil war era

Shahba Mall is one of the first project which were developed by Syrian Jordanian Company for Tourism and Real Estate Investment and was expected to open in the final quarter of 2009. This project will includes 4-star hotel with 250 rooms, a seven-storey shopping mall, eight screen cinema, a business center, and 36 restaurants and cafes. The mall will be located at northern Aleppo which is close to motorway that links to Gaziantep, Turkey. The construction of this mall will cost around US $ 70 million and once completed it will become the largest shopping mall in Syria. Carrefour and Virgin Megastores will be one of the anchor inside the mall that will be operate for long-term since the opening.

Destruction and aftermath

The mall was damaged during the Syrian civil war clashes which causes the mall to be permanently closed on October 16, 2014. Syrian activists believed that the bombing of the mall was did by pro-government airforces.
According to a 2015 article in the Guardian, the mall had served as a prison while it was under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.