The Kirkuk Citadel ( ar, قلعة كركوك, , tr, Kerkük Kalesi) is in the centre of

Kirkuk Kirkuk ( ar, كركوك, ku, کەرکووک, translit=Kerkûk, , tr, Kerkük) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located north of Baghdad. The city is home to a diverse population of Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, and is considered to be the oldest part of the city. The

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

stands on an artificial mound 130 feet high located on a plateau across the

Khasa River The Khasa River ( ar, نهر خاصة, ku, ڕووباری خاسە) is a winterbourne river which runs through the City of Kirkuk in northern Iraq.{{Cite web, url=https://www.ruaf.org/sites/default/files/UAM21%20p.24-25.pdf, title=The Role of Urb ...

History

The origins of the citadel are disputed; some historians believe the oldest parts of the structure were built by the nomadic Gutian people around 3,500 years ago, others assert that the citadel was constructed by the Assyrian king Ashur Nasirpal II between 850 and 884 BC. King

Seleucus I Nicator Seleucus I Nicator (; ; grc-gre, Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ , ) was a Macedonian Greek general who was an officer and successor ( ''diadochus'') of Alexander the Great. Seleucus was the founder of the eponymous Seleucid Empire. In the po ...

built a strong

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...

with 72 towers around the 72 streets and the two entries to the citadel. A jewel of the citadel is the so-called "Red Church", with traces of mosaics dating to the period before the

Islamic conquest of Iraq The Muslim conquest of Persia, also known as the Arab conquest of Iran, was carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 654 AD and led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire as well as the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion. The r ...

in the 7th century. It is believed that

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...

visited the citadel in 1393 during his military expedition. The modern walls go back to the Ottoman period. In the 1990s,

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

, announced a campaign to beautify the walled citadel. A large number of historical and religious sites still exist there, including a monument believed to be the

Tomb of Daniel The Tomb of Daniel (Persian: آرامگاه دانیال نبی) is the traditional burial place of the biblical figure Daniel. Various locations have been named for the site, but the tomb in Susa, in Iran, is the most widely accepted site, it be ...

References

Castles in Iraq

Citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

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