Return to Aleppo: The story of my home during the war

When Syria's civil war came to the city of Aleppo in 2012, Zahed Tajeddin was cut off from his 450-year-old home. He worried about it, but it survived - and he later discovered how it served as a life-saving medical centre for people living under constant bombardment. Zahed Tajeddin had always wanted to live in Aleppo's historic old town, in one of the city's ancient houses, with a front door opening into a corridor that leads to courtyard with a fountain and jasmine climbing up the walls.

His father had been brought up in one, but Tajeddin himself had spent his childhood in a modern flat in a modern district of the city. As a teenager, he would explore the old houses just before they were demolished, scampering through courtyards and over crumbling rooftops. He finally managed to buy one for himself, after making a career as a sculptor and archaeologist, in 2004.

He chose the neighbourhood of Judaydah, which means "little new quarter" in the local dialect. Although it started to take shape in the 15th Century, this was in fact "new" in a city with 6,000 years of continuous human habitation.

Zahed dreamed of owning a historic house - and then he found one in Judaydah. As well as the medieval mansions there were stone alleyways, squares, churches, mosques, coffeehouses - and the ever-present scent of flowers.

"You always have the smell of jasmine. It's typical of Aleppo streets," Zahed says. "It's a magical atmosphere." Tajeddin was living in London with his wife and children when the Syrian conflict began. He watched from afar as war engulfed Aleppo in 2012 and Judaydah became a battleground between government soldiers and opposition fighters.

Read more at BBC