Baghdad
In Iraq ,all roads lead to the capital Baghdad ,a city with a glorious past and magnificent present .The gem of the east ,The capital of Al-Rashid and the city of thousand nights and one night.
It was built in 762 A.D. by Abbasid Caliph Abu Ja’far
Al-Mansour on the Tigris river ,and soon became one of the great centers of human civilization .

Basrah
The smile Iraqi port .549Kms south of Baghdad ,all around it are millions of palm trees on the both side of Shatt Al Arab river .It was founded by Utba bin Ghazwan in 637 A.D. and has been a major Islamic city ever since

Babylon
From the great Hammurbi to the Glorious Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon continued to be the capital of the Chaldean kingdom, unique among the cities of the ancient world and an example of human achievement, progress and glory. Babylon lies 90 Km's south of Baghdad .In Akkadian times ,around 2350 B.C. Babylon was a small village which had grown to be one of the most famous ever city in the world .

Ur
Ur was leading among the old Sumerian cities of Mesopotamia in the dawn of dynasties (4800 B.C.)It lies 340Kms south of Baghdad. The most important structure in UR was the holly great temenos which contained all the major temples together with the magnificent 3- level Ziggurat built by URNAMMU (22 century) .

Nineveh
The city of Nineveh had a glorious history which made the Governorate assume its name. It was the third Assyrian capital after Assur and Nimrud.
Nineveh was ruled by a numder of great Assyrian Kings, such as Sargon II (721 - 705 B.C.), before he moved to Dur Sharrukin (Khorsabad), succeeded by his son Sennacherib (705 - 681 B.C.) who abandoned his father’s new capital and went back to Nineveh, and Esarhaddon (681 - 669) and Assur- bani- pal (619- 626), all of whom enlarged and built up the city and made it the center of the civilized world of their time.

Nimrud
The second capital of Assyrian Empire had been a well –settled place for a thousand years before built as a center of his kingdom by Shalmaneser 1 (1273)B.C. Lies 37Kms. to the south-east of Mosul .

Hatra
In Iraq the breezes are heavily scented with the fragrance of civilization ,which invites you to a trip deep in to the heart of time where man has left his thumb-print .The kingdom of Hatra still survives with its ruins. In architecture ,sculpture ,metal work, the art of war, Hatra was no less advance than Rome. It began actually grow in the third century B.C. It lies 85 Km's. south of Mosul.

form ADAM to ABRAHAM , JONAH , AYUB other prophets, old mosques, churches , monastenes shrines ... IRAQ is the empire of the holy

Najaf
Imam Ali bin Abi Talib shrine

(The cousin of the prophet Mohammad and his son-in-law ).Najaf 170kms south of Baghdad where lies the shrine of the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib with its resplendent golden dome and minarets .

KERBALA
Imam AL- HUSSEIN SHRINE
Kerbala lise 102 kms away from Baghdad. It witnessed the tragic Battle of Tuffsin which were martyred Imam Hussein and his brother Abbas together with many others, who are buried in their two great shrines in the city.

Samarra
The Askari shrine
Where the two imams Ali Al- Hadi and his son Hassan Al- Askari are entombed under a golden dome 68 metres in circumference, with two golden minarets 36 meteres high.

Kadhimain shrine
A world famous shrine built in what used be called in Abbasid times the Qureish Cemeteries . The two Imams ,Musa Al-Kadhim and Muhammad Al-Jawad are buried there . The great elaborate mosque ,constructed in 1515 A.D.,has two domes and four minarets all coated with gold .

Imam Abu Hanifa

He is one of the holy men who once rendered humanity great service with his teaching and his wisdom and piety.This Mosque in Adhamiya was built over the shrine of Imam Abu Hanifa who gave his name to the Hanafites. He was buried in Al- Khaizuran cemeteries in 767 A.D.

Sheikh
Abdul Kader Al-Gailani Mosque

It is Sheikh Abdul Kader Al-Gailani’s burial place in Baghdad , The shrine was originally a school built by Abu Said Al-Mubarak Bin Ali A Mukharrami,later improved and enlarged by his pupil Sheikh Abdul Kader Al-Gailani where he lived and contemplated and taught until his death in 1165 A.D.

CHURCHES
AND
MONASTERIES

Mosul is noted for its numerous old churches and monasteries, some of which originally date back to the early centuries of Christianity,such as church of Al-Tahira (The Immaculate). Baghdad also embraces some of old churches such as the Armenian church.

Agargouf
An ancient city ,some 30Kms north west of Baghdad , built on a Sumero-Babylonian plan in the 15th century B.C. by king Kurigalzu.

Al-Mada’in (Ctesiphon)
A historically important city ,30 kms south of Baghdad .It dates back originally to the 2nd century B.C. but amidst its extensive ruins stands a fabulous arch built in the middle of the 3rd century of our era . It is the largest single –span brick –built arch in the world

Ukhaidher fortress
Ma’shok Palace one of the greatest monuments of early abbasid period in this area. It was built with stone and plaster on a plan which suggests the highs skill of its architects in the use of vaults and arches. 8th century

Baghdad’s walls & Gates
Baghdad was round city with walls and four gates for defensive purposes which remained part of it showing the Islamic art.

Abbasid Palace
Baghdad carried the torch of Arab Islamic civilization during the Abbassid era. It was the seat of the Caliphate and a centre of culture. Scientists,artists,poets and men of letters came to Baghdad where they were received generously. The Abbassid palace still holds the echoes of the glorious past.