The citadel in North Mesopotamian Erbil (Iraq): challenges for the preservation and adaptation to new function of an Ottoman-period house
The citadel in North Mesopotamian Erbil (Iraq): challenges for the preservation and adaptation to new function of an Ottoman-period house

Author(s): Marek Kowalczyk, Mirosław Olbryś
Subject(s): Archaeology, Ancient World
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: world heritage; Erbil citadel; Ottoman period; mud-brick construction; conservation assessment; design
Summary/Abstract: The Citadel in Erbil is the most important monument in IraqiKurdistan and a key archaeological site in ancient Mesopotamia inview of the preservation of a unique architectural and urban legacy,as well as the assumed archaeological heritage. The site covers anarea of 10.2 hectares and features uninterrupted settlement fromat least the 5th millennium BC. In 2006, the Kurdistan RegionalGovernment launched a revitalization program aimed at attractingvisitors from all over Iraq. In 2012, architectural and buildingconservationdocumentation was prepared for a historic house,Building 22/3. Located in the southern part of the city, it is one ofits oldest monuments (mid-19th century AD) with late Ottomanportals in the eastern façade attesting to its rich past. Remains of anursi room, with richly decorated bay windows of the shanasheel type,have been preserved on the first floor.

• Details
• Contents