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Samarra Archaeological City

Western Asia (Mesopotamia / Salah al-Din Governorate, Tigris valley), Iraq · Cultural site · UNESCO World Heritage property #276

High ConcernConfidence: Supportedas of October 14, 2026

Significance

UNESCO describes Samarra as a 9th-century Abbasid capital on the Tigris, about 130 km north of Baghdad, the second capital of the Abbasid Caliphate after Baghdad, whose notable monuments include the Great Mosque and its spiral minaret (al-Malwiya). UNESCO states that about 80% of the site remains unexcavated. ICOMOS's 2007 evaluation (based on the nomination dossier, as ICOMOS could not conduct a site mission) described ruins extending about 41.5 km north to south, including the Caliphal and al-Ja'fari palaces, and called Samarra the best preserved plan of an ancient large city. It is inscribed under criteria (ii), (iii) and (iv).

Current Status Rationale

Historical damage is documented in the site's record, but the current classification is based on present conditions and the most recent credible evidence. The military use from 2003, the 2005 minaret bombing and the 2014-2017 conflict damage are recorded in events[]. The present picture is of a very large, mostly unexcavated Abbasid city (UNESCO's property page says 80% remains to be excavated) on the Danger List since 2007 and retained in 2026, where the Committee remains concerned about encroachment, urban sprawl, bulldozing and natural deterioration, no completed comprehensive Conservation Plan was found in the sources reviewed, the Committee regretted in 2025 that several major restorations did not follow technical review findings, and the Danger List exit pathway has not been drafted. Against that, there is real activity: a 2023 joint mission with 17 recommendations, a three-phase framework proposed by Iraq for 2024-2026, an on-site management unit, preliminary condition assessments and conservation reports in preparation for Abu Dulaf, al-Ma'shuq and Qubbat al-Sulaybiyya, emergency works begun at al-Ma'shuq, and external support (UNESCO/Netherlands Fund-in-Trust). The evidence does not show active combat at the site and does not show a single documented imminent-loss event, which is why this is High rather than Critical. Confidence is Supported rather than Confirmed: the Danger List status and the Committee's concerns are directly confirmed by UNESCO decisions, but the account of present on-site condition rests largely on the State Party's own reports and UNESCO's summaries of them, the full January 2026 State Party report was not read, only a single mission (2023) has assessed the property in the last decade and it did not see all components, and no independent 2025-2026 site assessment was found. Confidence does not alter the status.

Serious, currently active threats are documented, or major historical damage remains substantially unrepaired. Credible sources support this status, with some limits on corroboration.

Threat Categories

Armed Conflict

UNESCO's state-of-conservation entry (2024) gives the reason for the 2007 Danger List inscription as a 'state of conflict in the country' that does not allow the responsible authorities to assure protection, and the Secretariat's 2026 working document (WHC/26/48.COM/7A) lists the same threat. UNESCO's property page states that the site has been 'occupied by multi-national forces' since 2003 and used as a theatre for military operations, and that protective procedures have been in abeyance since 2003. ICOMOS's 2007 evaluation reported that multi-national forces at times occupied the Malwiya minaret and that a small bomb in April 2005 slightly damaged it (Al Jazeera, 1 April 2005, reported that the top tier was destroyed; the accounts differ). UNESCO's 2015 entry records a State Party report that an ISIL attack partly damaged the 'Dome Crusade', that a July 2014 attack damaged fixed walls and that a car bomb partly damaged the Eshnass fence, and records a black banner hung on the minaret in November 2014 and black and red graffiti on it in March 2015. UNESCO's 2017 entry says military operations and clashes with extremist armed groups undid corrective work begun in 2013 on the Great Mosque and that warring parties occupied and damaged Qubbat al-Sulaybiyya. Iraq's November 2024 report (a State Party statement, not independently verified) says Qubbat al-Sulaibiyya was lost to site management control after 2014, was damaged by a projectile and is now used as a military barracks, and that many sites are unreachable and insecure. Iraq's January 2024 report states that the security situation has improved. No active fighting at the property in 2024-2026 was found in the sources reviewed. The conflict is therefore documented as the continuing stated basis of the Danger List inscription and as a legacy of damage, not as ongoing combat at the site.

First identified: Not established — UNESCO's property page dates military occupation by multinational forces to 2003; later conflict episodes (2014-2017) are in events[].

Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Government of Iraq, via UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Government of Iraq, via UNESCO World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS, via UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Al Jazeera

Conservation / Structural

The Committee has repeatedly expressed concern about the property's condition (45 COM 7A.29 in 2023, 46 COM 7A.17 in 2024, 47 COM 7A.37 in 2025 and 48 COM 7A.3 in 2026), citing encroachment, urban sprawl, bulldozing and natural weathering or deterioration. The 2023 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS mission report states that several attributes are vulnerable to weathering and deterioration; that the Great Mosque and Malwiya minaret, the Qasr al-Khalifa basin and al-Ma'shuq Palace were heavily restored in the 1980s (the 2011 mission described the basin as fully reconstructed with poor quality materials and techniques, and the 2023 mission observed new brick cladding that affects its authenticity); that preparation of comprehensive conservation and management plans had not started; and that there was no on-site unit managing the whole property. It also records the State Party's statement (2022 report) that encroachment and bulldozing had increased over the previous five years and had since been stopped. Iraq's November 2024 report lists 25 sites affected by encroachment (including ploughing and planting, bulldozing, construction and occupation by security forces), says some areas were bulldozed and divided into residential plots in 2018, and describes the Abu Dalf (Abu Dulaf) Mosque as in very poor condition (State Party statements). The 2026 working document says the World Heritage Centre learned in December 2025 of horizontal residential complexes being built within the property and requested information, that the Secretariat, ICOMOS and ICCROM note continuing pressure from encroachment and urban sprawl and growing residential and agricultural activity in the buffer zone, that a school project in the buffer zone is suspended for lack of funding after an August 2025 archaeological investigation found Abbasid-period remains, and that the DSOCR, corrective measures and timeframe have not yet been drafted, identified or established. The 2025 decision regretted that several major restoration projects had not followed technical review findings (naming the Great Mosque, Caliphal Palace, Al Hir and Bab al-Amma), and the Committee requested a moratorium on major interventions in 2025 and again in 2026. Al-Monitor (February 2018 per its URL; article partly paywalled), citing Iraqi media, reported that the minaret's external stairway was unstable and that visitors had carved their names on its walls; this is dated. Positive steps are also documented (surveys and documentation, an on-site management unit welcomed in 2025, emergency works begun at al-Ma'shuq, UNESCO/Netherlands Fund-in-Trust support). HeritageWatch has no separate category for encroachment or urban development, so it is recorded here.

First identified: Not established — Chronic, multi-year concerns recorded in Committee decisions from 2023 to 2026 and in earlier cycles; the State Party's report says some damage predates inscription. No single start date established.

Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre / ICOMOS, Government of Iraq, via UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Al-Monitor (Adnan Abu Zeed)

Environmental / Climate

Weathering is named by the Committee among the causes of the property's condition (natural weathering in 2023-2025 decisions, natural deterioration in 2026). The 2023 mission report states that several attributes conveying Outstanding Universal Value are vulnerable to weathering effects and deterioration. UNESCO's 2024 entry lists 'weathering and lack of maintenance affecting the fragile structures' among threats. Iraq's November 2024 report attributes damage at the Abu Dalf Mosque to sand-laden wind, rain and temperature swings, together with visitor damage and vehicles entering the unfenced site (State Party statement), and the 2026 working document notes erosion among continuing pressures. These are weathering pressures on earthen and brick structures; the sources reviewed give no quantified climate-change assessment for Samarra.

First identified: Not established — Ongoing weathering pressure described across successive decisions and the 2023 mission; no start date given.

Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre / ICOMOS, Government of Iraq, via UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Historical Timeline

  1. 2003
    Multinational forces occupy the archaeological area

    UNESCO's property page states that since 2003 the site has been occupied by multinational forces who use it for military operations, and that protective procedures have been in abeyance since 2003. ICOMOS's 2007 evaluation reports that they have at times occupied the Malwiya and that in August 2005 they excavated an earth mound across the site.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS, via UNESCO World Heritage Centre

  2. 2005-04-01
    Explosion damages the Malwiya minaret

    Al Jazeera reported that the top tier of the minaret was destroyed in an explosion on 1 April 2005; a police lieutenant colonel attributed it to 'fighters'. ICOMOS's later evaluation describes the minaret as slightly damaged by a small bomb in April 2005, so the reports differ on the extent of damage. The article notes US troops had been stationed in the tower until about two weeks earlier.

    Sources: ICOMOS, via UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Al Jazeera

  3. 2007
    Samarra inscribed on the World Heritage List and on the List in Danger

    The Committee's 31st session (decision 31 COM 8B.23) inscribed Samarra Archaeological City (criteria ii, iii, iv) and, in the same decision, placed it on the List of World Heritage in Danger; ICOMOS identified the main risk as the responsible authorities' inability to exercise control over the site's management and conservation. UNESCO's property page lists it as in Danger from 2007 to the present. ICOMOS had primarily recommended deferral but advised that, if inscribed, the property should immediately be inscribed on the Danger List. UNESCO's 2024 entry states the threat as a state of conflict in the country that does not allow the authorities to assure protection.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS, via UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre

  4. 2011-06
    Joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission

    UNESCO's documents page lists a joint reactive monitoring mission on 5-9 June 2011; later state-of-conservation entries cite it as one of only two such missions (the other in 2023).

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre

  5. 2014-07/2015-03
    Armed-group attacks and signs reported at Samarra

    UNESCO's 2015 entry records a State Party report that an ISIL attack partly damaged the 'Dome Crusade', that a July 2014 attack damaged fixed walls and that a car bomb partly damaged the Eshnass fence, with the rest of the property reported undamaged. The entry also records a black banner hung on the Spiral Minaret in November 2014 during clashes and black and red graffiti on part of it in March 2015; the Committee (39 COM 7A.26) asked Iraq to prevent ostentatious religious signs and to implement graffiti-treatment recommendations.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

  6. 2015-07-29
    UNESCO and Iraq sign a Samarra conservation agreement

    UNESCO reported an agreement signed in Paris to conserve and manage Samarra, beginning with restoration of the Great Mosque and Al-Malwiyah Minaret, with an 18-month first phase funded by the Governorate of Salah-Al-Din at USD 853,000.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

  7. 2017
    Committee notes conflict reversed earlier corrective work and damage at Qubbat al-Sulaybiyya (41 COM 7A.35)

    UNESCO's 2017 entry says military operations and clashes with extremist armed groups undid corrective work on the Great Mosque begun in 2013, that warring parties occupied and damaged Qubbat al-Sulaybiyya, and that Iraqi army fortifications on Sur Ishnas made that site a target. In decision 41 COM 7A.35 the Committee commended the State Party for documenting the damage, expressed serious concern about the lack of information on the property's condition, and retained Samarra on the Danger List.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

  8. 2021
    Committee asks for assessment once security allows (44 COM 7A.8)

    The Committee asked for a full assessment of damage as soon as security conditions permit and before remedial action, and for a joint mission once security allows, and retained Samarra on the Danger List.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

  9. 2023-06
    Joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission (10-16 June 2023)

    The mission did not visit all ten components, which it attributed to time constraints and the security context (it did not assess Abu Dulaf Mosque or al-Musharrahat Palace and saw Qubbat al-Sulaybiyya only in a quick overview). Its report states that several attributes are vulnerable to weathering and deterioration, that comprehensive conservation and management plans had not been started, that no on-site unit managed the whole property, and that the DSOCR process had not begun, and it made 17 recommendations. It records the State Party's statement (2022 report) that encroachment and bulldozing had increased over the past five years and had been stopped.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre / ICOMOS

  10. 2023
    Committee decision 45 COM 7A.29 on Samarra

    The Committee expressed deep concern about damage from encroachment, urban sprawl, bulldozing and natural weathering, asked for a comprehensive damage report and conservation plan, and retained Samarra on the Danger List; a general decision (45 COM 7A.30) on Iraq's properties was adopted the same session.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre

  11. 2024
    Committee decision 46 COM 7A.17 on Samarra

    After Iraq's 31 January 2024 report proposing a three-phase framework for 2024-2026, the Committee retained Samarra on the Danger List, noted damage and deterioration from encroachment, urban sprawl, bulldozing and natural weathering, asked Iraq to implement the 2023 mission recommendations using the three-phase strategy, and asked for a detailed report on bulldozed areas and encroachments. UNESCO's 2024 entry records that the Committee expressed appreciation for the framework. The updated report was requested by 1 February 2025.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Government of Iraq, via UNESCO World Heritage Centre

  12. 2024-11
    Iraq submits state of conservation report

    Iraq's State Party report, dated November 2024, says the current site management took over on 3 June 2024, lists 25 sites affected by encroachment, describes the condition of the Abu Dalf Mosque and Qubbat al-Sulaibiyya, and says it is 'too early' to define the desired state of conservation given encroachment and the volatile political situation.

    Sources: Government of Iraq, via UNESCO World Heritage Centre

  13. 2025
    Committee decision 47 COM 7A.37 on Samarra

    The Committee welcomed some post-mission steps including an on-site management unit, regretted that several major restoration projects had not followed technical review findings, requested a moratorium on major interventions, asked Iraq to reconsider a proposed school construction project in the buffer zone, and retained Samarra on the Danger List. An updated report was requested by 1 February 2026.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

  14. 2025-12
    World Heritage Centre learns of residential complexes within the property

    According to the Secretariat's 2026 working document, in December 2025 the World Heritage Centre learned of horizontal residential complexes being built within the property and requested information under paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines. The same document says an August 2025 archaeological investigation at the buffer-zone school site found Abbasid-period remains and that the project is suspended for lack of funding.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

  15. 2026-01-21
    Iraq submits 2026 state of conservation report

    According to the Secretariat's 2026 working document, Iraq's report was submitted on 21 January 2026; it reports exploratory surveys, GIS mapping to identify deteriorated areas, preliminary assessments of al-Ma'shuq, Abu Dulaf Mosque and Qubbat al-Sulaybiyya, emergency works begun at al-Ma'shuq, temporary halts to works and warnings to encroachment violators, and an April/May 2025 training workshop on earthen architecture supported by the UNESCO/Netherlands Fund-in-Trust.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

  16. 2026-07
    Committee decision 48 COM 7A.3 on Samarra; property retained on Danger List

    At its 48th session (Busan, 19-29 July 2026) the Committee noted surveys, documentation and conservation planning, welcomed UNESCO/Netherlands Fund-in-Trust support, expressed continued concern about encroachment, urban sprawl, bulldozing and natural deterioration, reiterated its requests for a moratorium on major interventions and Heritage Impact Assessments (including for the proposed school), encouraged consultation on the DSOCR, requested an updated report by 1 February 2027 for its 49th session, and decided to retain Samarra on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Decision 48 COM 8C.2 lists Samarra among 52 properties retained on the List.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Digital Preservation Index

Overall coverage: Moderate — Documented in several categories, with some notable gaps.

Two of five categories (photographic, academic/scholarly) have publicly viewable evidence, which gives the Moderate tier by the rubric (2-3 categories); it is the low end of that range. The photographic evidence is an institutional gallery on UNESCO's site (12 images on the first page, with further pages indicated; with credits including the Samarra Archaeological Survey/P. Fox, Editions Gelbart and Mahmoud Bendakir), nine of twelve captioned only with the property name. The scholarly evidence is Northedge's survey-based study of the city, whose 2008 volume is offered as a free PDF by the British Institute for the Study of Iraq; the Northedge survey fieldwork dates from 1982-1989, so it is historical rather than a record of current condition. Archival records are not counted: UNESCO's documents page lists the nomination dossier, mission reports and state-of-conservation reports, but these are UNESCO's own reports and no digitised archive of the site was opened. 3D documentation is not counted: the one 3D-related publication found concerns museum artefacts (Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin), not the site, and no publicly viewable site-level model was found. No virtual tour was found. This reflects what is publicly findable, not necessarily what exists in unpublished archives.

Law and commitments

Sources