This team is working on the renovation of Erbil’s ancient citadel.
Erbil Citadel was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2014. Renovation efforts began in 2009 and are still underway.
The citadel was constructed on a 110,000 square meter-circle.
Its renovation is a long and painstaking process. Out of a total of 506 houses, 50 have been renovated so far.
“This is just a rehabilitation of two buildings for making the citadel alive again. But working in the citadel is big. There is a lot of things to do. The citadel you can see is very big, but this one is a step towards the rehabilitation of the citadel,” says UNESCO project manager Alessandra Proseto
Kar Company has provided $2,000,000 for the renovation. The EU has promised to fund $6,500,000.
The US has pledged $800,000 to renovate the citadel’s ancient bath. US Ambassador to Iraq Matthew H. Tueller visited the citadel on September 18
“We want to thank everybody involved in this impressive decades-long project to restore this glorious important site so that the long history of human civilization here can be shared with the world,” he said during his visit.
The restoration project also hopes to fill in gaps in tourist facilities.
“Most of them [tourists] visiting here take a tour and leave due to lack of restaurants and cafes. We hope to finish these issues for the next year,” says Nihad Latif, Head of the Erbil Citadel Restoration Commission.
The citadel, located in the city center of Erbil, dates back to 4,000 years BC.
US space agency NASA described the Erbil citadel as the oldest human-occupied settlement on Earth on April 2, 2019.
Reporting by Mahdi Faraj
