The Great Mosque of Samarra is a mosque located in the Iraqi city of Samarra and was built in the 9th century. The mosque was commissioned in 848 and completed in 852 by the Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil who reigned (in Samarra) from 847 until 861.

Iraq (2003) 250 Dinars (back) - The minaret (Malwiya Tower) of the Great Mosque of Samarra, Iraq

The Great Mosque of Samarra was at one time the largest mosque in the world; its minaret, the Malwiya Tower, is a vast spiralling cone (snail shaped) 52 meters high and 33 meters wide with a spiral ramp. The distinctive spiral minaret is one of Iraq's main tourist attractions.

The mosque had 17 aisles and its walls were panelled with mosaics of dark blue glass. It was just part of an extension of Samarra eastwards that built upon part of the walled royal hunting park inherited from the conquered Sassanians.

On April 1, 2005, the top of the Malwiya minaret was damaged by a bomb. Insurgents reportedly attacked the tower because U.S. troops had been using it as a lookout position. The blast left pieces of brick from the top of the minaret along its spiral ramp.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Great Mosque Of Samarra"