Victory Arch, Monument in Hay Zawra, Baghdad, Iraq
Victory Arch is a pair of triumphal arches in Zawra Park, Baghdad, each formed by two bronze hands rising from the ground and holding crossed stainless-steel swords 43 metres long that meet about 40 metres above the ground. A small flagpole rises from the crossing point, and the blades weigh 24 tons each.
Khaled al-Rahal won the commission for the arches, based on a concept sketch by Saddam Hussein; after al-Rahal died in 1987, Mohammed Ghani Hikmat took over. The arches opened to the public on 8 August 1989, and on the 1990 dedication day Saddam rode under them on a white horse.
The official name, Swords of Qādisīyah, refers to the 636 CE Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, where Arab armies defeated the Sasanian Empire. The monument was dedicated in 1990, when Saddam Hussein rode beneath the arches on a white horse, an act some link to the martyr Husayn ibn Ali.
The monument stands within Zawra Park, a public site in central Baghdad where several other memorials are grouped together. Visitors can walk beneath the arch on foot and view the construction from different angles.
British foundries cast the bronze hands, while German metalworkers forged the stainless steel blades that each weigh 24 tons. The entire construction was shipped to Baghdad in parts and assembled on site.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,568 contributors worldwide.
