Erbil Citadel

Erbil Citadel crowns an ovoid tell built up by generations living and rebuilding on the same spot — the site corresponds to ancient Arbela, an Assyrian political and religious centre, and earlier settlements likely lie concealed within the mound. Its unbroken ring of tall 19th-century facades still reads as an impregnable fortress above the modern city, enclosing a fan-like street pattern from the late Ottoman phase. UNESCO inscribed the citadel in 2014.