Najaf: Wadi Al-Salam, the Tarat and cultural history

At Wadi Al-Salam Cemetery, the Tarat, and the Palace of Culture and Arts, different facets of Najaf come to the fore: an international visiting public, historical connections to the city’s surroundings, and a history of cultural events. Together, these themes range from religiously focused visits and the city’s history to institutional culture.

Wadi Al-Salam and the Tarat

The description submitted for UNESCO’s Tentative List on January 24, 2011, mentions millions of Muslims from different parts of the world who visit Wadi Al-Salam. This gives the cemetery an international religious dimension and makes it a prominent point of reference for travelers interested in religious geography.

The Tarat of Najaf offer a different perspective: they are a historically and socially significant part of the city’s natural surroundings and are connected to its history and cultural heritage. The areas have not yet been archaeologically investigated. Compared with the cemetery, the focus of the Tarat is on their connection with the natural environment, social significance, and the city’s history.

Culture and nature in Najaf Governorate

The Palace of Culture and Arts in Najaf was officially opened on December 26, 2005. Over the course of its history, it has hosted cultural conferences, festivals, exhibitions, and seminars. For those interested in culture, the palace thus complements the city’s history with the perspective of a cultural institution offering a range of event formats.

In the wider destination of Najaf Governorate, the wetlands in the Bahr al-Najaf depression form an important natural area and a natural refuge for bird and wildlife species. This regional natural environment broadens the perspective beyond the city’s cultural themes to include an ecological dimension. Najaf’s cultural history and the governorate’s landscape can thus be understood as distinct aspects of the destination.

Further historical perspectives in Iraq

In the wider destination of Iraq, Hatra and Samarra offer distinct historical contexts. Hatra is an ancient fortified city founded on the ruins of an Assyrian settlement. It lies in northern Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates, in an open semi-desert landscape. Its circular urban complex is adapted to the topography. The UNESCO description characterizes the double defensive walls as being in excellent condition and the surroundings as pristine desert steppe. The double city wall bears witness to Hatra’s historical significance and to the influences of Assyrian-Babylonian, Aramaean, Greek, Parthian, Roman, and Arab cultures. A local museum is housed in rooms of the Temenos, or Great Temple.

Samarra is also in Iraq and offers a different architectural emphasis. The city was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate from 836 to 892 and is considered the only surviving Islamic capital to have preserved its original layout, architecture, and art; surviving art forms include mosaics and carvings. The archaeological city includes the Great Mosque from the 9th century and its spiral minaret. Samarra also preserves the Al-Malwiya and Abu Dulaf mosques, which are among the largest mosques. 80 percent of the area remains unexcavated. This means that the preserved urban form and monuments exist alongside a large, still-unexcavated portion of the area.

Discover more destinations: Najaf, Erbil, Erbil, Al-Karbala, Baghdad, Kurdistan Region

Go to the overview of the wider destination: Iraq.