Erbil Citadel Town is situated on top of an artifi cial, 32-meters high earthen mound, and visually dominating the expansive modern city of Erbil. It is believed to have been in continuous existence for 7000 years or even more. Thus, it may be regarded as the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the world.
The Citadel is an elliptical shaped town covering slightly more than 10 hectares of dense fabric composed mainly of traditional courtyard houses and built in ochre-colored bricks
Ines Ingenieros was requested by the UNESCO to do the studies for the conservation and restoration of eight building groups at the citadel. The project involved an extensive series of studies and investigations carried out by an international and a local team.
These studies included, for each building group, topographical survey, historical research, architectural documentation and analysis, geotechnical studies and structural studies: sampling and analysis of the building materials, foundations and soil studies, report on damages and deterioration patterns, assessment of the structural stability…
The fi rst document was the report survey and architectural and photographic documentation for all the buildings.
After that, an architectural research and analysis was done to study the buildings’ history and the changes that had occurred on it over the time.
