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Aleppo in Syria is one of the Arab world’s great cities. Or it was. Everything that made the city famous – its enterprising merchants, its ancient citadel and souk, its dynamic Christian community, its melting pot of cultures – now hangs in the balance. Aleppo today lies devasted by Syria’s civil war and divided between pro and anti-Assad forces. Thousands of its people are dead, and hundreds of thousands have fled. On Wednesday May 15 Tim Franks will present a 2-hour Newshour special focussing on Aleppo, looking at its past, its present, and its future.

(Image: Rubble of the minaret of Aleppo's ancient Umayyad mosque taken 25/04/2013. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)