AL- UKHAIDAR FORTRESS
AL- UKHAIDAR FORTRESS
(Fortress of Abbasids, in Iraq)
By: DR. MUSTAFA KALHORO
Al-Ukhaidar is one of the world’s most distinguished defensive fortresses for its military features unique not only in Arab Islamic architecture, but also in the Oriental architecture during the middle Ages. Most scientific studies indicate that it was built in the early period of the Abbasid dynasty, in the reign of the caliph Mansoor.
Al-Ukhaidar is located in a historically important area where many routes of ancient trade caravans converge, including the route that connected Kufa with Syria.
This fortress constitutes through its design the connecting link between the styles of al-Mashta Palace (Winter Palace), built by the Umayyads, and Samarra’s palaces and bastions, built by the Abbasids. This monument is traced to the Emir Issa Ibn Mussa Abbasi.
It is square like al-Mashta Palace, and the length of its side is around 170 metres. The fortress is bounded by a wall supported by semicircular towers, and includes a central set of very similar houses, lateral buildings and spacious courtyards. In the middle of the northern side of the wall there is a door that opens out facing a long corridor, at both ends of which are two sets of houses.
Despite the construction simplicity, this large building contains an important and diversified collection of knots, including semi-cylindrical knots and others propped by two-fold arches, vaults ornamented with slopes, successive domes and crossed vaults.
————————————————–END————————————————
