I lived in Iraq for over one year. I had the opportunity to visit two palaces in the Baghdad area. As I approached Al-Salam Palace, I passed through the “ Arc of Triumph” also called the “Swords of Qādisīyah،”
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The Al-Salam Palace
According to Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As-Salam_Palace “ The palace has 200 rooms with approximately 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) floor space. There are six floors, three of which are usable (others serve as 'false floors'); two large ball rooms. The palace is internally lined with marble floors with hundreds of thousands of hand-cut pieces, granite walls, and ceilings that also have hundreds of thousands of hand-carved and inlaid hand-painted flowers."
"The palace is also surrounded by a sequence of square tiles bearing the initials of Saddam Hussein (S & H); the letters in Arabic are called "Saad" & "Haa." These tiles are obvious on the top side of the palace building. Iraqis report that the palace dome used to have a life-sized statue of Saddam.
The palace is also surrounded by a sequence of square tiles bearing the initials of Saddam Hussein (S & H); the letters in Arabic are called "Saad" & "Haa." These tiles are obvious on the top side of the palace building. Iraqis report that the palace dome used to have a life-sized statue of Saddam.
Next palace:
The Al-Faw Palace
According to Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Faw_Palace “The Al Faw Palace (also known as the Water Palace) is located in Baghdad approximately 5 kilometers from the Baghdad International Airport, Iraq. Saddam Hussein commissioned its construction to commemorate the Iraqi forces' re-taking of the Al-Faw Peninsula during the Iran-Iraq conflict. The palace was constructed in the early 1990s to commemorate Saddam Hussein's victory over the Iranians in the Al-Faw Peninsula in 1988.[1]”
War Damage
As I walked through this room, for a brief moment, I wondered what it was like before time and war diminished its beauty.
Thank you for taking the time to journey with me to some of the palaces in Iraq.
Very beautiful and very sad.
Yes, such mixed emotion for me. Thanks for the comment!
I made about 1.50 for posting this story. I can see why people tend to leave Steemit. Someone else post "hi" and its instant money.. sigh
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