Restitution or Redesign? Evidence-Based Reconstruction and the North Façade of the Great Mosque of Aleppo (Umayyad Mosque)

Post-conflict reconstruction requires distinguishing recovery of a documented built state from architectural interpretation. This study examines the Great Mosque of Aleppo through historical documentation, field photographs, institutional reports and a structured visual and morphological comparison supported by 2017 and 2025 photogrammetric models. The models provide spatial visualisation without metric validation. A descriptive, single-assessor damage inventory supplies context; an evidence-based assessment relates reported interventions to material retention, historical correspondence and affected layers. Minaret records support reconstruction incorporating anastylosis, although overall stone reuse and the legibility of additions remain unverified. The northern entrance differs from its pre-war configuration and reportedly follows an earlier design alternative, whose previous execution at that location is unestablished. A conditional decision framework distinguishes documented-state reconstruction, architectural interpretation and unresolved cases. Building on earlier usage, pseudo-restitution is operationally defined by two requirements: a demonstrated mismatch with the claimed historical built state and presentation of the intervention as its recovery. The available façade evidence does not establish both conditions. The contribution is a transparent procedure for relating reconstruction claims to evidence; wider applicability requires testing beyond this single case.