After some research and heavy thinking, we drove to Mosul in northwestern Iraq. From its original site on the western bank of the Tigris River, the modern city expanded to the eastern bank and now encircles the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh. Probably built on the site of...
We spent a few days in Erbil, one of the most ancient cities in the world, dating back at least to 2300 BC. Erbil has long been an important trade center, and It has been inhabited, over the millennia, by the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Mongols, and Ottoman Turks. It was already an ancient...
Khanzad Castle, also called Banaman Castle, is located on the road between Erbil and Shaqlawa. It was constructed during the time of the Kurdish Soran Emirate in the 16th century under the rule of Princess Khanzad and her brother Prince Suleiman Beg. For seven years, she ruled over two...
Shrine of Raban Boya It is situated in Shaqlawa at the foot of the Safeen Mountains. Christians know the cave as Rabanboya, while Muslims call it Sheikh Wso Rahman. We took a taxi to the parking (10000 IQD), and from there, we hiked for around 20 minutes the steep hill up to the cave. It...
We stopped overnight by the „touristic“ Geli Ali Beg waterfall (🎫 1000 IQD). It is the highest waterfall in the Kurdistan Region and all of Iraq. It is about 12 meters high, located beside Korek Mount, which is 2,076 meters above sea level. The waterfall is the crosspoint of three rivers:...
In 1973, President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr ordered the construction of the Erbil Observatory with three telescopes on the top of Mount Korek (2066 m). Unfortunately, the Iranian rockets launched during the Iran–Iraq War destroyed the partly-built observatories. Nowadays, you can take a 3670...
We drove the upper newly built road Nr. 3 around the original lower “Hamilton Road.” The strategic road across Southern Kurdistan to the Iranian border was constructed between 1928 and 1932 by A. M. Hamilton, the principal engineer of the British Empire. Although Hamilton...
The city’s history of Rawanduz dates back to the seventh century BC and boasts several Christian villages and archaeological sites. Surrounded by majestic mountains, Rawanduz is home to the deepest gorge in the Middle East. Flanked by vertiginous rock walls, the Rawanduz River snakes its...
Our drive through Eastern Kurdistan.
The town of Akre, the capital of Newroz, lit up on Monday evening as fireworks filled its skies with over a hundred thousand people in the area to celebrate the Kurdish New Year by lighting fires. Despite the cold and windy weather, 2,723 torches were lit in Akre for the occasion as a...