CECILIA CLARK P HOTOGRAPHY

Our first stop in Mosul was in Old Mosul at the Syriac Catholic Church of St. Thomas for a tour of the restored church. The church was founded in 1863. It was built in three years and it is entirely made of Mosul marble. After it was completely destroyed by Daesh 2014 - 2017, it was restored to its original beauty in 2022. Daesh smashed the statues and set fires inside the church. Daesh removed the valuable manuscripts and may have sent them out of country. Everything else wa

Tahrir Square (Liberation Square) sculpture commemorating the 1958 establishment of the Republic of Iraq On the first day of our tour, our minibus drove past Firdos Square which is where Saddam Hussein's statue was pulled off its pedestal and destroyed in 2003. Firdos Square was lined with political posters of candidates running for office. Political posters and flags were most everywhere we traveled in Iraq. According to the New York Times, there are more than 7,700 candidat