Saladin: A proposal to increase tourism and extra income to the country

Local

16-04-2022, 20:30

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INA - BAGHDAD

Salah al-Din Antiquities Inspectorate announced on Saturday, the start of rehabilitation work for the sites of Malwiya and the Caliphate Palace, while it identified the most prominent archaeological sites in Samarra and the rest of the governorate, as it submitted a proposal to increase the number of tourists and provide additional income to the country.

"Samarra is one of the richest cities in the world with monuments and historical figures, not only in the Arab world in terms of archaeological, historical and artistic value, as we suggest adding maintenance amounts and continuous care to provide additional opportunities to attract tourists and provide additional income for the country," said the inspector of antiquities in Salah al-Din, Saad al-Khazraji, to the Iraqi News Agency - INA.

He noted that there are important archaeological sites in the city of Samarra, such as Malwiya Mosque, Asheq Palace, Baraka Palace, Abi Dalaf Mosque, Zakharif Palace, and the Green Church.

"As for Saladin Governorate, it contains many archaeological sites, including the site of Ashur, the religious capital of the Assyrians in Sharqat, which is among the world heritage according to UNESCO, in addition to unexcavated sites and hills that require huge funds to discover," he included.

He pointed out that "there is maintenance work for archaeological sites in Samarra, and the transfer of waste and accumulations that were in some sites are being maintained, such as the Caliphate Palace, where major rehabilitation and maintenance work has begun,"

Al-Khazraji revealed the start of maintenance and rehabilitation work at Malwiya and the Caliphate Palace sites, stressing that work will be carried out on the rest of the sites successively.

He called on government agencies to stand with the Saladin Antiquities and Heritage Inspectorate to restore life to archaeological sites and make them tourist destinations.

Al-Khazraji denied what was said that there is a distribution of plots of land in archaeological sites, stressing that "this news is false," explaining, "We are a monitoring body and our goal is to preserve and care for archaeological sites, as we do not allow the allocation of plots of land within archaeological areas,"

"The Antiquities Law is strict, and what is being circulated about the distribution of lands in archaeological sites are just rumors that lack accuracy," he stressed.