Samarra

Samarra (Arabic:سامَرّاء‎) is a city in Iraq's Baghdad Belts. In 2007, UNESCO named Samarra one of its World Heritage Sites.

Understand


The region has been inhabited since prehistoric times and has given name to the Late Neolithic Samarra culture, which existed roughly between 5500 and 4800 BCE. The city of Sur-marrati was founded in 690 BC on the opposite bank of the Tigris. Since then the city has been destroyed and rebuilt several times and slightly different locations along the Tigris river.

Samarra in its current iteration was founded in 836 CE by the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu'tasim. He and his successors built lavish palace complexes; such as al-Mutawakkiliyya, the Great Mosque of Samarra with its famous spiral minaret and the large palace Bulkuwara. Samarra remained the residence of the caliph until 892, when it returned to Baghdad. The city then declined and was largely abandoned starting in 940 CE. During the next millennia the city remained insignificant, but population increased during the 1950s when the Samarra Barrage was built and flooded nearby areas.

Today, Samarra is a city of about 350,000 inhabitants. Being the only remaining Islamic capital that retains its original plan, architecture and artistic relics it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.

Climate
Samarra has a hot desert climate. Daily highs in June and July easily reach.

By road
Highway 1 between Baghdad and Mosul passes by Samarra. The road is in acceptable condition, but robberies along the route have been frequent in the late 2010s.

By bus
There are daily buses from Baghdad.

By rail
National operator Iraqi Railways runs a passenger train from Baghdad once per week, on Fridays.



See




Stay safe
See the warning on the Iraq article for information on the security situation.