Heritage with Related Tags
Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape
The site is located on the Bakircay Plain in the Aegean region of Turkey. The Acropolis of Pergamon was the capital of the Attalid dynasty during the Hellenistic period and a major center of learning in the ancient world. Magnificent temples, theaters, colonnades or porticoes, gymnasiums, altars, and libraries were built on a slope surrounded by a wide wall. The rock-hewn Sanctuary of Kybele, located on another hill to the northwest, is visually connected to the Acropolis. The city later became the capital of the Roman province of Asia and was famous for the healing center of the Temple of Asklepios. The Acropolis is located in and around the modern town of Bergama below the hill, which is dotted with ancient tombs and Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman ruins.
Samarra Archaeological City
The archaeological city of Samarra was a powerful Islamic capital that ruled for a century from the Abbasid provinces stretching from Tunisia to Central Asia. Located 130 km north of Baghdad on the banks of the Tigris River, the site is 41.5 km long from north to south and varies in width from 8 km to 4 km. It bears witness to the architectural and artistic innovations that developed there and spread to the rest of the Islamic world and beyond. The 9th-century Great Mosque and its spiral minaret are among the site's many striking architectural monuments, 80% of which have yet to be excavated.
Medina of Sousse
An important commercial and military port during the Aghlabid period (800-909), Sousse is typical of towns from the first centuries of Islam. Sousse has a castle, walls, a medina (the Great Mosque), the Boufta Tower Mosque, and a typical ribat (a fortress and a religious building) that formed part of the coastal defense system.
Kairouan
Kairouan was founded in 670 and flourished under the Aghlabid dynasty in the 9th century. Although the political capital was moved to Tunisia in the 12th century, Kairouan remains the main holy city of the Maghreb. Its rich architectural heritage includes the Great Mosque, with its marble and porphyry columns, and the 9th-century Three-Doored Mosque.
Historic City of Meknes
Founded by the Almoravid dynasty in the 11th century as a military settlement, Meknes became the capital during the reign of Sultan Moulay Ismail (1672-1727), founder of the Alaouite dynasty. The sultan transformed Meknes into a majestic Spanish-Moorish city surrounded by high walls and gates, where 17th-century Islamic Maghreb influences and European influences still blend harmoniously today.