Abu Dulaf Mosque

Abu Dulaf was built in the 860s during the brief period when the Abbasid caliphs ruled from Samarra rather than Baghdad, and it is the second of the city's two great congregational mosques, smaller than the Great Mosque with its Malwiya minaret but built on the same principle: an enormous rectangular enclosure, brick piers carrying arcades on the qibla side, and a spiral minaret standing outside the northern wall, a helical ramp winding up a tapering tower. The roof is long gone and what remains is the outer wall, the pier arcades and the minaret, standing on flat ground with the town some distance away. It forms part of the Samarra Archaeological City World Heritage property, which was inscribed in 2007 and placed on the list in danger at the same time.

What you actually see

• The spiral minaret - a helical ramp winding up the tapering tower.
• Brick pier arcades - the rows of supports on the prayer-hall side.
• The vast enclosure - the scale of a ninth-century congregational mosque.
• Open ground - the building standing alone outside the modern town.

When to go

November to March; the site is completely exposed and summer is severe. Morning and late afternoon give the best light on the brickwork. Access should be confirmed in advance.

Honest expectations

The mosque is roofless and largely reduced to walls and piers. Climbing the minaret may not be permitted and the ramp has no parapet. There is no interpretation and no facilities. Permissions for the Samarra area need arranging locally.

Nearby

Samarra and the Malwiya lie south; the Tigris runs east.