Amadiya (Amedi)

Amadiya sits on a flat-topped limestone plateau rising about 1,400 metres above sea level, its sheer cliffs dropping away on three sides. The site has been continuously inhabited since at least the Assyrian period, and traces of every subsequent era — Assyrian, Kurdish, Ottoman — survive in the fabric of the town. The 16th-century Ottoman gate, the minaret of the old mosque, and the carved Assyrian rock inscriptions on the cliff face are the most visited points.

The town today is a small, quiet community of a few hundred families, their houses clustered on the plateau top. The approach road winds up through walnut orchards and views back toward the Barzan highlands. On clear days the view from the plateau edge takes in a vast arc of mountains stretching toward the Turkish border to the north.

Amadiya is the natural gateway for exploring the wider Barwari Bala district: the Sulav springs, the Gara range, and the villages of the upper valleys are all within a half-day drive. The town is warm in July and August when Duhok city is hot — temperatures on the plateau average 5–8°C cooler.