Iraq - Samarra

Samarra (2007)
Iraq

Samarra Archaeological City, inscribed both on the World Heritage List and on the List of World Heritage in Danger is the site of a powerful Islamic capital city which ruled over the provinces of the Abbasid empire extending from Tunisia to Central Asia for a century.

Iraq 1967. International Tourist Year. Air Post Stamp. Abu Dulaf Minaret in Samarra.

Located on both sides of the River Tigris 130 km north of Baghdad, the length of the site from north to south is 41,5 km; its width varies from 8 to 4 km. It testifies to the architectural and artistic innovations that developed there and spread to the other regions of the Islamic world and beyond. The Great Mosque and its Spiral Minaret, 9th century, are among the numerous remarkable architecture monuments of the site, 80% of which remain to be excavated.

Iraq 1967. International Tourist Year. Air Post Stamp. Minaret of Abu Dulaf in Samarra. Face value 80f. Scott # C23. Scan by courtesy of Mario Villena Garcia (Spain). Note that an overprint was issued in April 1971 (Scott #C39), for the World Meteorological Day.

Sources and links:

Information about Samarra (Abbasid Capital)

Other World Heritage Sites in Iraq (on this site). Inactive links are not described on postage stamps. Please refer to the UNESCO-listing, section Iraq for further information about the individual properties.

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