£500,000 project to save 1,200-year-old mosque threatened by ISIS

£500,000 project to save 1,200-year-old mosque threatened by ISIS
(Friday, July 31, 2015) 19:49

Unesco and Iraqi authorities agree $1million project to restore "emblematic" heritage site of Samarra, threatened by ongoing conflict in Iraq

Iraq and Unesco, the UN cultural organisation, have signed an agreement worth $873,000 (£546,000) in an effort to save the World Heritage Site of Samarra Archaeological City.

 

The project to conserve the 1,200-year-old site will start with the restoration of the Great Mosque and Al-Malwiyah Minaret, a unqiue example of the Islamic tower that incorporates a square base and a spiral exterior staircase.

Iraqi security forces have been gathering in Samarra, some 130km north of Baghdad on the banks of the river Tigris, in recent days to deter anticipated Islamic State attacks.

Telegraph
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