The Palaces Of Al-Salam and Al-Faw, Iraq

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،”

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.