The reconstruction challenge is stark: In December 2018, the UN cultural agency UNESCO said 10 percent of Aleppo’s historical buildings had been destroyed, and as much as 60 percent of the Old City, a World Heritage Site, was severely damaged.

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After Damascus regained control over the whole city in 2016, some restoration work began – however, significant progress has been hindered from outside. While allies like Russia, Iran, and China have made investments in the country, reconstruction efforts have been complicated by sanctions imposed on President Bashar Assad’s government by Western countries.

Some locals finally began to enjoy the fruits of their labor by the end of March, when an Armenian church, Forty Martyrs Cathedral, hosted its first mass. Restoration work on the 14th century church began more than a year prior to bring it back to its former glory after it was damaged in April 2015 during shelling.