After the founding of the Abbasid Caliphate in 750, a new capital became necessary: Baghdad (762), near the Sassanid city of Ctesifonte. This city is extensively described in texts, but nothing from the original city has been preserved. The earliest monuments preserved date back to the thirteenth century, including the Madrasa Mustansiriyya and other similar buildings. Its initial layout was based on a circular design of the governmental city, an innovation for the era, surrounded by large unfortified suburbs. Though we know little about early Baghdad’s architecture and urban planning, it can be understood through the well-preserved vestiges of the second Abbasid capital: Samarra (836-892). The ruins there maintain practically the full city layout, the arrangement of which can be seen, as can the wonderful architecture of the Al-Mutawakkil Mosque, with its famous spiral minaret. Today, these remains have suffered the effects of war and economic development, but a good portion of the site in Samarra endures.
