Al Rasheed Street
# Al Rasheed Street

Al-Rasheed Street or Al-Rashid Street (Arabic: شارع الرشيد) is one of the main streets in downtown Baghdad, Iraq. Named after Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid, it is one of the most significant landmarks of the city due to its political, urban, cultural, and artistic history.

Located near al-Maidan Square, the Street is considered an important urban heritage site of Baghdad and bared witness to what Iraq has gone through in terms of political events, security unrest, and popular protests that Iraq saw over the course of more than a century. The street includes many ancient landmarks such as Haydar-Khana Mosque. In recent years, the street started to suffer severely from neglect and destruction but efforts and campaigns to rehabilitate the street were outlined.

## History

### Early years (1800s-1917)

The street's origin dates back to the Ottomans who ruled Iraq from 1534 to 1918. During that time, the only known public street in Baghdad was al-Naher Street (Shari al-Naher). The street was established by Halil Kut the ruler of Baghdad and the commander of the Ottoman army, and it was named after him "Halil Kut Avenue C." Due to the lack of money, Halil started to demolish property that belonged to the poorer classes, and the disabled which caused clashes between the scholars of the area and the Ottomans. Although the Street was expanded for it to facilitate the movement of the Ottoman army and its vehicles, it eventually developed its own identity and became an important street due to its political, urban, cultural, and artistic evidence. Among these is the ancient Chakmakchi Company for Recording Musical and Lyric Records, located on the Eastern side of the street. Many prominent theaters, cinemas, and nightclubs also showed up.

During the British colonialism of Iraq, Haydar-Khana Mosque, a mosque located on the street, started to become one of the brewing aspects of the Iraqi Revolt due to how frequent the notables and personalities of the city gathered in opposition to the British. British troops reportedly stormed the mosque in an attempt to arrest the revolutionaries. Even after the independence of the Kingdom of Iraq, the area stayed as a hot spot for revolutionary gatherings. In 1917, al-Rasheed Street was the first street to be electrically illuminated in the city.

### Developing its identity (1920s-1980s)

The street names were changed several times such as "Hindenburg Street" which was a name used by the British and then later "al-Nasr Street". It was until the name settled on its current name in 1936, which was launched by the Iraqi linguist and historian Mustafa Jawad after Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid. During the Royal Era and even during World War II, the street flourished as schools supported by King Faisal I started to materialize. Even for decades, coffeehouses became schools of thought and culture that people frequented and customers gathered in them to drink Arabic coffee and Iraqi tea brought from the fields of Sri Lanka. Popular Cafes for the educated class and pioneers of thought also started to be built and scattered throughout the street. Libraries were also to be found since the gate to al-Mutanabbi Street is located in the street.

During the 1920s, groups of Egyptian singers visited the country and helped develop the artistic movement that was happening in the country. As such, many singers such as Fayza Ahmed and Umm Kulthum gave concerts in the cinemas of the street. Umm Kulthum gave concerts in the Crescent Theater, a theater built in 1918 and located near al-Maidan Street, in 1932. Reportedly, ticket prices were high due to the amount of attention the concerts gave. Al-Istiqlal newspaper published an article about the visit entitled "The Magic of Babylon and the Pharaoh in the Crescent Club," and said that Umm Kulthum gave 12 concerts, starting from October 18, 1932. Umm Kulthum left a large legacy and impact on the street and it's artistic and social circles that her fans opened many Cafés that were themed after her at the time including one that survived to this day. The street also saw new buildings being built such as the Abboud Building.

During the 14 July Revolution, Crown-Prince Abd al-Ilah's dead corpse was dragged along the street and then was cut to pieces. The following year, Abd al-Karim Qasim, who lead the revolt that overthrew the Monarchy, narrowly avoided death in a botched assassination attempt orchestrated by a young Saddam Hussein.

### Modern era (2000s-present)

After the US invasion of Iraq, many of the country's landmarks suffered from neglect and damage and are under threat of destruction, including al-Rasheed Street and its landmarks. The street saw a decline as a general social and intellectual location during the embargo on the country and many of its shop owners have since fled the country although many Iraqis have accused the government of neglect and ignoring the street's heritage. Reportedly, the street saw many buildings damaged by bullets due to the many infighting between its people and clashes that had happened. Over the years, there have been a lot of attempts to restore and preserve the street and to turn it back into an important street and a tourist site although several issues hindered it. According to the Municipality of Baghdad, 80% of the street buildings are owned by citizens and not by the state, so an agreement must be reached with them. As of 2018, 30% of the street's buildings have been restored. Although the Municipality was criticized for the restoration attempt due to having no architects, conservationists, or architecture historians working on the street. The street has also witnessed protests that demand the preservation of Iraqi heritage, reportedly sixteen protesters have died since.

Additionally, due to the invasion and sectarian violence that followed, the street became a victim of several bombing incidents that were planted near it, the last was in 2016 which killed more than two dozen people.

In early 2023, the Crescent Theater, the theatre where Umm Kulthum held her concerts in the street, collapsed. Activists and bloggers documented the collapse and took pictures. The pictures circulated around Iraqi Social Media and showcased the destruction of the Shanasheel of the theater along with other insides of the building. The pictures caused great anger among Iraqis who saw the destruction as neglect of the theater that carries a great heritage legacy and some warned that it will become a commercial theatre in the future. The event helped revive calls for the restoration of the heritage sites of Baghdad that are under threat of neglect.

In March of 2023, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani stressed the importance of preserving the ancient parts of Baghdad. The Prime Minister started a project to preserve the old parts of the city which includes al-Rasheed Street as well as al-Rusafi Square and al-Maidan Square. He stressed that the rehabilitation process will include heritage buildings and transforming them into Baghdadi sessions, cultural and social meetings, and an economic interface. The development began after the Eid al-Fitr of 2023. Despite the delay and the project's length of time, the development project was perceived as a step towards preserving the past of the city and becoming an economic and social area once again.

## Architecture

Baghdad is famous for its architecture and al-Rasheed Street is known for its architecture. The street includes building architecture partially inspired by Renaissance architecture and was characterized by renewed and delicate designs with curved lines and shapes inspired by plants and Geometric shapes and this appears in the inscriptions and decorations. The street includes Shanasheel, an Islamic balcony that goes back to the Abbasid Era, which extends throughout the street and includes stained glass. The Shanasheel of the street represents an architectural masterpiece and a mixture of art, architecture, civilization, and architectural heritage according to its inhabitants.

The street also included more modern buildings such as the Abboud Building which was characterized by its strange circular shape. The Haydar-Khana Mosque, located in the street, is considered one of the most perfect and beautiful mosques in Baghdad due to its architecture. It has a massive blue dome with arabesque paintings on it.

## Notable Landmarks

### Abboud Building

The Abboud Building (Arabic: عمارة عبود) is one of the most iconic buildings on the street located at the entrance to Shorja on the side of the street near the Murjan Mosque. It is distinguished by its modern design in its age and circular shape.

### Chakmakchi Company for Recording Musical and Lyrical CDs

The Chakmakchi Company for Recording Musical and Lyrical CDs (Arabic: شركة جقماقجي لتسجيل الأسطوانات الموسيقية والغنائية) was an ancient Iraqi institution founded in 1918 and located at the beginning of al-Rasheed Street from the eastern door side. The company was founded in Mosul by the Jakmakji family and opened a second branch on al-Rasheed Street in Baghdad in 1940. The company preserved Iraq's musical and artistic history through its records, which it recorded for the masters of Iraqi singing, such as Muhammad al-Qubanchi, Nazem al-Ghazali, Hudiri Abu Aziz, Nasser Hakim, Salima Pasha, Afifa Iskandar and many others. The company didn't only care for Iraqi singers but also preserved other Arab singers such as Umm Kulthum, Abdel Halim Hafez, Muhammad Abdel Wahab, Farid al-Atrash, Fayza Ahmed, and others. The company has declined in the last two decades due to neglect and the emergence of cassette tapes and Bluetooth. It then saw theft and vandalism after the US invasion of the country in 2003 and its Baghdad headquarters has now since been turned into a clothing store.

### Haydar-Khana Mosque

The Haydar-Khana Mosque (Arabic: جامع الحيدر خانة) is one of the oldest mosques in Iraq. The Mosque was established by Abbasid Caliph al-Nasir and is located near al-Mutanabbi Street. It is considered one of the most beautiful and perfect mosques in Baghdad in terms of engineering and architectural construction with its three domes and tall minaret along with calligraphy done by the Iraqi master Calligrapher Hashem Muhammad al-Baghdadi. It is also considered important for its contribution to revolutionary ideas against British colonialism in Iraq. Despite its importance, the mosque currently needs specialized maintenance and consultation due to neglect.

### Mackenzie Library

The McKenzie Library (Arabic: مكتبة مكنزي) was a library that provided foreign literature and books that was founded in 1924 by a Scotsman named Kenneth Mackenzie who migrated to Iraq after World War I. The Iraqi government at the time wanted to provide a library that offered a variety of foreign publications due to high demand at the time. Between school and scientific books, in addition to books on travel, Arab and Islamic heritage, and others. For a while, the library became a great center for Islamic studies until its decline in the eighties, as a result of the high prices of foreign books and then the UN embargo. In the last two decades, the library was closed due to neglect and has since been replaced with a commercial store.

### Murjan Mosque

The Murjan Mosque (Arabic: جامع مرجان) is one of the oldest surviving mosques in Baghdad. It is an important religious and scientific landmark because it contains a madrasa within its corridors, in addition to the presence of the tombs of a number of sheikhs who studied in the Madrasa. Its walls used to be connected to the street but they were then demolished to expand the street. Despite its significant importance, currently, the mosque suffers from neglect.

### Umm Kulthum Café

The Umm Kulthum Café (Arabic: مقهى ام كلثوم) is an old preserved Café on the street themed after the Egyptian singer of the same name. Umm Kulthum enjoyed great popularity among the artistic, social, and political circles during her two visits to Iraq in 1932 and 1946 which led to many Cafes around the country that bore her name opening although only one remains today in al-Rasheed Street. Located near al-Maidan Square, the Café was opened in 1968 and was populated by fans of Umm Kulthum who listened to her songs in the café. The Café includes pictures of Umm Kulthum along with other figures such as King Faisal II. Despite the threat of closing, the Café remains crowded on Saturdays, a traditional day for friend gatherings.

### Al-Zahawi Café

Al-Zahawi Café (Arabic: مقهى الزهاوي) is one of the oldest surviving cafés in Baghdad, located near al-Mutanabbi Street. It was established in 1917 and was named after Iraqi poet and philosopher Jamil Sidqi al-Zahawi who was also one of the pioneers of the café. Over the decades, it was the home of many intellectuals, poets, singers, and journalists whose pictures fill the interior of the café.

### Al-Zawra Cinema

Al-Zawra Cinema (Arabic: سينما الزوراء) was one of the oldest cinemas in Iraq, opening in the 20th century. It used to draw huge crowds to popular Iraqi films, especially during the 60s as Iraq had a thriving private movie industry during the period. After the United Nations imposed broad sanctions on Iraq in 1990, the cinema industry quickly went into steep decline. New equipment, film, and chemicals for film laboratories were forbidden under new import rules designed to curb Saddam Hussein's chemical programs. No films have been made since and al-Zawra Cinema has since been deserted.

## Gallery

* Al-Rasheed Street along with Haydar-Khana Mosque in 1932.
* Al-Zawra Cinema in al-Rasheed Street in 1942.
* A photograph of al-Rafidain Bank in al-Rasheed Street during the Royal Era.
* Photoghraph of Murjan Mosque and the Abboud Building on the street by Latif al-Ani.
* An Iraqi fruit seller on al-Rasheed Street in 2009
* Architectural designs in al-Rasheed Street.
