The looting of the Iraq Museum in April 2003 was the story of a cultural genocide. ‘If a country’s civilisation is looted, its history ends,’ commented Riad Muhammad, an Iraqi archaeologist. The museum, which first opened in 1923, occupies an area of 4,700m². It was expanded continually until 1983, culminating in 28 large exhibition halls, with displays pre-dating 9000BC and reaching right up to the Islamic era. The museum’s collections included some of the earliest tools ever made, gold from the famous Royal Cemetery at Ur, and Assyrian bull figures and reliefs from the ancient Assyrian capitals of Nimrud, Nineveh and Khorsabad.

This remarkable building on the corner of Bab Al-Moazam Bridge and Al-Rashid St/Ahmedi Square with its beautiful arch is a fine example of Islamic architecture. It was constructed during the reign of Caliph al Nasser Lidnillah (1179–1225). The only Abbasid palace left in Baghdad, it has a central courtyard and two storeys of rooms, with beautiful arches and muqarnases (ornately decorated cornice supports) in brickwork, and a remarkable iwan (a rectangular vaulted hall, walled on three sides with the fourth side open) with brickwork ceiling and façade. When it was partly reconstructed in recent times another iwan was built to face it. Because of the palace’s resemblance in plan and structure to Al-Mustansiriya School, some scholars believe it is actually the Sharabiya School, a school for Islamic theology built in the 12th century, mentioned by the old Arab historians.

In the northern neighbourhood of Kadhimiya about 5km from the centre of Baghdad on the banks of the Tigris, Kadhimiya is one of the oldest districts in Baghdad. Today, Kadhimiya is home to the largest Shia mosque in Baghdad. The monumental entrance to the sanctuary is dominated by two gilded and glowing domes and four impressive minarets all coated with gold. A further four smaller minarets are also gold coloured. Entering the holy shrines, one is overwhelmed by a feeling of majesty and amazement. Kadhimiya Mosque and Shrine has today become one of Islam’s architectural wonders, and the mosque is always very crowded, thronged with Shia pilgrims from all over the Islamic world.

Located on the east side of the Tigris near the Army Canal 4km from Fardous Square, this extraordinary monument of blue domes was designed by Ismail Fattah Al-Turki and built by Mitsubishi in 1983 as a shrine to the million or so Iraqis killed during the eight-year war with Iran. Set by two lakes, the shrine is imposingly huge. In Saddam’s time there were glass cases full of belongings of the dead including pens, nail clippers, letters home, glasses and dog tags. Today it has become a monument to Shia and Kurdish victims of Saddam’s regime. Gruesome mannequins display firing-squad executions and the unearthing of mass graves. The monument is not an easy place to enter as special police permission is required and in the past groups of tourists to visit found the interior completely locked. Although things have relaxed slightly recently, the monument still does not attract many local people.

A family-friendly place, Al-Zawra Park feels very secure. The park has two entrances, one from Al-Zaytoon Street (which is less crowded), the other at the side of Al-Rashid Hotel. The park is home to the Middle East’s second-largest Ferris wheel, which is 60m high and has 40 cabins with an overall capacity for 240 people.The amusement park has rides including the Happy Swing, Gravity, Pirates, Family Ship and Aerial Slides, and other roller coasters and water rides. If you visit in March you will be able to enjoy the annual flower festival where you’ll see (and smell) some of the best roses in the world. There is also a small zoo where a rare white Bengal tiger cub was born in 2013, and a lake with boat rides.