Mosul

Mosul lies on both banks of the Tigris in northern Iraq, with the modern city on the east bank and the historic Old City and the mounds of ancient Nineveh facing it from the west. With a population of around one and a half million, it is the largest city in northern Iraq and the capital of Nineveh Governorate. Long known for its mosaic of communities, including Sunni and Shia Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Turkmen, Yazidis, Shabak, and others, Mosul has been a meeting place of languages, religions, and trades for centuries. The city suffered devastating damage during the ISIS occupation of 2014 to 2017 and the operations that ended it, particularly in the Old City along the west bank. Since liberation, reconstruction has been a slow and deeply local effort, exemplified by the high-profile restoration of the leaning Al-Hadba minaret and the Al-Nuri Mosque led by UNESCO and partners. Travelers today come to witness this rebuilding, to walk through the rising scaffolds of the Old City, and to visit nearby Nineveh, Nimrud, and the Mar Mattai monastery in the surrounding hills.

The Mosul area has been settled since prehistoric times and rose to prominence as Nineveh, the great Assyrian capital that became the largest city in the world under King Sennacherib in the seventh century BCE. After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, the site declined, and a new town grew on the opposite bank, eventually known as Mosul. Through the early Islamic, Hamdanid, Atabeg, Mongol, and Ottoman periods, Mosul prospered as a trade hub on the routes linking Baghdad, Aleppo, and Anatolia, lending its name to mosul muslin cloth. The city retained a remarkably diverse population into the twentieth century. The twenty-first century brought severe upheaval, culminating in the 2014 to 2017 occupation and conflict, and the subsequent ongoing work of reconstruction.

Mosul has a distinctive culinary tradition, often considered one of the most refined in Iraq. Its signature dish is kibbeh Mawsalia, a delicate shell of bulgur stuffed with minced lamb, walnuts, and spices, typically served with yogurt or a tomato broth. Other specialties include pacha, ouzi-style stuffed lamb, kibbeh Hamuth in a tangy stew, and a wide range of stuffed vegetables and savory pastries. Mosul is also known for its sweets, particularly mann al-sama and dense almond pastries, and for excellent coffee in older cafes near the eastern bazaar.