Hatra
A caravan city of the Parthian age that held off two Roman emperors, and whose temples were never pulled down because nobody rebuilt over them.
The City That Beat Rome Twice
Hatra grew rich in the first and second centuries as a caravan stop and a temple city on the border between two empires, and it fortified itself accordingly — a double wall more than two kilometres across, with a religious precinct at the centre where Aramaic, Greek and Iranian gods were worshipped side by side. Trajan besieged it and failed. Septimius Severus tried twice and failed as well.
The Sassanids finally took it in 241, and nothing was ever built over it. That is why the iwans still stand to their full height with the carving intact. The sculpture was attacked in 2015 and the site retaken two years later; it has been on the List of World Heritage in Danger ever since.
See the heritage
Visiting Hatra
Remote, unshaded and without facilities. Worth the drive, with the right preparation.
Getting there
About 110 km south-west of Mosul across open desert. Half a day from the city with a driver, and nothing to buy when you arrive.
Before you go
Hatra has been on the List of World Heritage in Danger since 2015. Access depends on permits and on the security picture — check the week you travel, not the month before.
What to look for
The great iwans of the temple precinct, the Temple of Maren, and the carved heads and masks set into the arches — some damaged in 2015 and under restoration since.
When
Winter and early spring. There is no shade in the precinct, and the stone holds the day's heat well into the evening.
One country, seven thousand years
No single city tells the whole story. Follow the thread onward — through the gallery of destinations, or straight into planning the trip.