Erbil Citadel

The Citadel of Erbil sits on a raised oval mound at the exact heart of the modern city, its outer ring of walls visible from almost every approach road. Archaeological evidence points to continuous occupation stretching back thousands of years, and the site is widely cited among the longest continuously inhabited settlements on Earth. UNESCO added it to the World Heritage List on 21 June 2014.

Most families who once lived inside the citadel were relocated from 2005 onward so the mound could be surveyed and restored under a UNESCO-backed programme; by agreement, one household remains as a symbolic caretaker. A single gate on the southern side opens onto the Qaysari Bazaar and the fountain square below — the main visitor entrance. Restored lanes inside lead past a 19th-century mosque, an Ottoman-era hammam, and the Kurdish Textile Museum, housed in a renovated mansion in the southeastern quarter.

The esplanade circling the mound's rim gives a wide view over central Erbil, especially in the late afternoon when the square below fills with families and the fountains switch on.