Ten Landmarks
Ten landmarks of Iraqi architecture, from the Ziggurat of Ur to al-Qishla, read as engineering solutions: mass, material, arch, spiral.
01The Ziggurat of UrDhi Qar, 11 km from Nasiriyah · c. 2100 BCE · reign of Ur-Nammu
02The Ishtar GateBabylon · c. 575 BCE · reign of Nebuchadnezzar II
03The Arch of Ctesiphon (Taq Kasra)Ctesiphon · 3rd or 6th century CE · Sasanian period
04Al-Ukhaidir PalaceKarbala · c. 775 CE
05The Malwiya of SamarraSamarra · UNESCO World Heritage Site · 848 CE · Caliph al-Mutawakkil
06Bab al-WastaniBaghdad · the eastern city wall · Begun c. 488 AH (1095 CE) · restored 1221 CE
07Al-Mustansiriya SchoolBaghdad · 1227–1232 CE · Caliph al-Mustansir
08The Al-Hadba MinaretMosul · 12th century CE · destroyed 2017, rebuilt 2018–2024
09Erbil CitadelErbil · UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014 · Settled for at least six thousand years · standing fabric Ottoman
10Al-Qishla and the Clock TowerBaghdad · Rusafa, on the Tigris · Begun 1861 CE · completed under the governor Midhat Pasha