The Great Mosque of Samarra is a mosque from the 9th century CE located in Samarra, Iraq. The mosque was commissioned in 848 and completed in 851 by the Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil who reigned from 847 until 861. At the time of construction, it was the world's largest mosque. It is known for its 52 metres (171 ft) high minaret encircled by a spiral ramp. The mosque is located within the 15,058-hectare (37,210-acre) Samarra Archaeological City UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed in 2007.
The spiral minaret of the mosque
Malwiyah Mosque, Samerra, Iraq
Full aerial view of the mosque, with Al-Askari Shrine in the background
Side view of a wall
Samarra is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Saladin Governorate, 125 kilometers (78 mi) north of Baghdad. The modern city of Samarra was founded in 836 by the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim as a new administrative capital and military base. In 2003 the city had an estimated population of 348,700. During the Iraqi Civil War, Samarra was in the "Sunni Triangle" of resistance.
The spiral minaret of the Great Mosque of Samarra (2016)
Female statuette, Samarra, 6000 BC
The Samarra bowl at the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin. The swastika in the center of the design is a reconstruction.
Chinese-made sancai pottery shard, 9th–10th century, found in Samarra, an example of Chinese influences on Islamic pottery. British Museum.
