Climb the steps between the carpet shops on Qalat Street, and at the top you will be greeted by the big entrance gate to the Erbil Citadel. Old Erbil is not confined to the walls of the citadel both rather it is a high citadel and was a place for living. It is almost 25 to 32 meters higher than its surrounding areas.

Houses inside the citadel walls are organized in an oval same and along 430 meters of lengths and 340 meters wide covering an area of around 102.000 square meters. The place is believed to be the world’s ancient one still inhabited.

The earliest evidence about the citadel goes back to the 5th millennium B.C. Inside the high walls of the citadel there are three districts: Saray, Takya and Topkhana. People lived in Saray were from notable families. Takya was named after the dervishes who live there and Topkhana was housing families of the Craftsmen and farmers. Until 2008, around Hundreds of families used to live on the citadel. At present the place is in renovation process to preserve it as an archeological site.

Whenever you are in Erbil have a stroll around this fascinating place.