Hatra, Ancient fortified settlement in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq

Hatra is an ancient fortified city in Nineveh Governorate, northern Iraq, now protected as an archaeological site and World Heritage location. Round walls with numerous towers enclose temples, residential buildings, and squares scattered across the sandy center of the complex.

Hatra appears in the written record only from the 1st century AD, when it grew under the Parthians as a religious and trading centre; no finds at the site predate that period. It became the capital of a semi-autonomous Arab kingdom and withstood sieges by Trajan in 116/117 and Septimius Severus in 198/199. After defeating the Sassanids in 238, it fell in 241 to Shapur I, who destroyed it and disarmed its people.

Buildings combine Greek columns with Persian vaults and Arabian reliefs showing gods and mythological scenes. Visitors still see temple walls with carved names of pilgrims and traders who prayed here nearly two thousand years ago.

The site sits roughly 110 kilometers southwest of Mosul in a remote desert region requiring special travel arrangements. Visitors should come early in the day to avoid midday heat and bring enough water and sun protection.

The central temple preserves a floor plan with double rows of columns, a form rarely found elsewhere in the region. Archaeologists discovered coins and jewelry beneath the floor left as offerings by pilgrims.