Mosul was originally a Christian city and Christians were the first to begin building the passageways, says local researcher Salwan Abdul-Aziz. The Muslims that came after the Christians adopted the same building methods and also constructed the passageways. “There used to be hundreds of these arcades in residential neighbourhoods here,” Abdul-Aziz says, arguing for the preservation of the architectural features. “They are a pathway to the city’s many secrets.”
The city is looking at implementing what is known as the Urban Renewal Project, the city’s governor, Atheel al-Nujaifi told NIQASH and the historic passageways are part of that project. However, he also said that the project was still in its early stages. It also involved having Mosul locals who owned historic houses applying to authorities for help with restoration.
Any rehabilitation of Mosul’s historic buildings faces a number of challenges, says Haidar Saad al-Jamil, an engineering professor at the University of Mosul. Some of these relate to legislation on historic buildings – the owners have not been allowed to renovate them and the state doesn’t provide any financial assistance for renovation, so the buildings are crumbling, al-Jamil explains.
Additionally the skilled tradesmen with their traditional construction techniques, who would be needed to restore the passages properly, are also dying out. And perhaps most of all, al-Jamil says, there is a lack of local appreciation of why these historical features are so important.
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