Table of Contents
Baghdad
Built by the Abbasid caliph Ja`far al-Mansur in 145 AH, and taken it as the capital of his Abbasid state, and he chose a site for it in a fertile area; after he assigned men confidence to search for a place suitable for this big project, they advised him to a location south of Mosul, so he went to him, and stayed there a day and night, where he advised the place And admired the reason for its air, the good food, and the fertility of its lands, which are irrigated from the Tigris water, and settled the opinion, to establish his new city there. The new city included: the caliph’s palace, the palaces of the princes, the mosque, the homes of its sons, those who serve them, and government bureaus. Al-Mansour was keen that the city of Baghdad be similar in its greatness and prestige to the major capitals in the Levant and Morocco, so it worked to fortify it, which increased the cost of its construction, which amounted to nine million pounds. And he called it at that time the city of peace, and the house of peace, similar to paradise and the city of Islam, and it was also called the roundabout because it was built in a circle.
Baghdad witnessed a wide development in the scientific and cultural fields, as the translation movement from Persian to Arabic books flourished, and it became a destination for many scholars. Mansour had a great role in this development, as he was a lover of science, arts, and medicine, and also a narrator of hadith. After that, Baghdad continued its urban, scientific, and cultural growth, and the various arts expanded in it, and moved from it to the rest of the Islamic world, and it remained in this state of progress and prosperity until the year 656 AH, when it was subjected to the invasion of the Tatars led by Hulagu who destroyed and seized it.
Samarra
It is considered one of the most important historical cities; it is located on the eastern side of the Tigris River, where the Abbasid caliph Al-Mu’tasim ordered its construction in 221, and it took it as his capital, instead of the capital Baghdad, after many complaints and complaining about the existence of the enormous numbers of Turkish soldiers in Baghdad. He chose a site that he favored; it was an archaeological site for the Christian Monastery in Iraq, so he bought it, and when the city was built, he moved to it and lived there with his Turkish soldiers, who was keen to isolate them from the common people. Samarra enjoyed the status of Islamic capitals, as it developed greatly, and its population increased, and markets, parks, buildings, mosques, public baths, craft centers, prisons, and diwans were erected there. After the death of al-Mu’tasim, she remained the capital of the Abbasid caliphs, until the Caliph al-Mu’tamid left it, returned to residency in Baghdad, and transferred the seat of the caliphate to it.
Al-Mustansiriya School
It is considered one of the greatest Islamic endowment schools established by the Caliph Al-Mustansir Billah Al-Abbasi on the eastern side of the Shatt-Tigris in the capital, Baghdad, and it took six years to build, and the four Islamic schools were taught in addition to the sciences of the Qur’an, medicine, language, and mathematics. Al-Mustansiriya School was distinguished by the luxury of its construction, and the beauty of its decoration. It was equipped with interior departments, bathrooms, kitchens, classrooms, food, and sleep. It was followed by a hospital for treatment and teaching, and a huge library of books, in addition to the mosque, which was characterized by its beautiful location, and its roof built in the form of a dome, and was characterized by an hour of water;
