‘Beehive houses’: Syria’s ancient adobe houses threatened by war

The village in Aleppo province is among a handful of villages where residents long used to live in small domed houses made of mud bricks and brittle hay. Photo: AFP

Traditional mud-brick houses that the people of northern Syria have built for thousands of years risk disappearing, as 12 years of war have emptied villages and left the buildings crumbling.

Also known as “beehive houses”, the conical adobe structures are designed to keep cool in the blazing desert sun, while their thick walls also retain warmth in the winter.