Discover Baghdad: Top 7 Amazing Fun Facts You Never Knew About the Mesmerizing Capital City!

1. Largest Cash Delivery Ever

Talk about making it rain: In 2003, Baghdad witnessed a downpour of greenbacks, as the Federal Reserve shipped over $4 billion in cold, hard cash to the city via military planes, marking the largest cash delivery in history – all to fund Iraqi government expenses after the war.
Source => reuters.com

2. The Ultimate Ancient Library

In a time before Google ruled the knowledge realm and libraries were humanity's search engines, Baghdad housed the ultimate intellectual hotspot: The House of Wisdom during the Islamic Golden Age was the grandest library of its time, bringing together scholars from all corners of the earth to translate and preserve the wisdom of Greek, Roman, Persian, and Indian cultures, leading to groundbreaking advances in fields like mathematics, astronomy, and medicine.
Source => en.wiktionary.org

Did you know that Dubai's police force has an impressive collection of supercars, including a $1.4 million Aston Martin One-77 and a $300,000 Ferrari FF? Discover more about their high-speed fleet!

=> Fun Facts about Dubai

3. Intellectual Oasis of the Past

When Baghdad's philosophers weren't busy putting the 'cosmic' in 'cosmopolitan', they found solace within the walls of an intellectual oasis: the House of Wisdom, a thriving institution during the Abbasid era, attracted scholars from across the Arab, Persian, and Indian world to engage in translations, debates, and study of various subjects including philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy. The vicissitudes of time, however, took its toll and saw its destruction in 1258, leaving behind only breadcrumbs of its rich intellectual past.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

4. Insta-Worthy Medieval Palaces

In a galaxy far, far away, there was a cityscape filled with insta-worthy palaces boasting views that even royalty would double tap: Welcome to medieval Baghdad, where the imperial palace was the envy of all, nestled in a sprawling park complete with a menagerie, an aviary, and grand hunting grounds, decorated with lush flora, majestic fountains, and ornate sculptures.
Source => sourcebooks.fordham.edu

5. The Original Round City

You know the saying, "what goes around, comes around"? Well, it turns out Baghdad was quite literally ahead of the curve on that one: This ancient city, once known as the Round City, was designed with Persian influence and built in the Abbasid era, boasting a whopping 100,000 workers, 18 million gold dinars, and four gates leading to different regions. All thanks to a Zoroastrian-turned-Muslim architect and a Persian Jewish astrologer!
Source => en.wikipedia.org

6. Saddam's War-Centric Cinema

If Saddam Hussein had a Netflix special, it'd be all war and no romance: Under his 24-year rule, the Iraqi cinema mainly focused on the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war, churning out propaganda films that portrayed Iraq as the victorious hero, rather than commissioning a self-aggrandizing biopic as previously believed.
Source => reuters.com

7. Magic Round City Origins

Before Aladdin ever had a round with his lamp, a magical round city rose in the land of Baghdad: The impressive Round City, built by Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur, spanned a radius of about 1 kilometer, featuring a circular design influenced by Persian Sasanian urban planning, and surrounded by residential and commercial spaces, with the majestic Caliphal Palace and main mosque at its core.
Source => en.wikipedia.org