Founded in AD 762 on the west bank of the Tigris River, Baghdad was built as a city surrounded by a circular wall, with five gates. Two of them, the restored Wastani and Halaba Gates, are still in good condition. Unfortunately, almost nothing—except the gates and a carved marble prayer niche in the Khasaki Mosque—remains of the original "Round City." Baghdad rapidly grew to cover both sides of the river. Now Iraq's capital, it has a population of about 4,800,000.
The west bank of the Tigris is called Karkh; the east side is Rusafa, where most of the interesting sites are located. On the west bank are the tombs of Sheikh Ma'ruf and Zobeidah, the Martyrs/Unknown Soldier Monument (with a museum illustrating the highlights of Saddam Hussein's life), the Rashid Hotel across the street (famous as the center of CNN's Gulf War coverage in 1991) and the Iraqi Museum (often called the Museum of Mesopotamian Antiquities, it once had excellent displays of every culture that influenced Iraq before the museum was extensively looted in April 2003). Sights on the east bank include Sheikh Omar al Sahrawardi's Shrines (distinctive cone-shaped dome); the 13th-century College of Al Mustansiria and its fascinating architecture; the 14th-century Ramadan Mosque; the Kadhimain Mosque (golden domes); and the Islamic Museum (or Khan Murjan), now a museum and restaurant with beautiful arched ceilings. Also in Rusafa are the 13th-century Abbasid Palace, the Museum of National Costumes and Folklore, the Iraqi National Gallery (art displays) and the various souks selling goods made from copper, silver, fabric, leather and gold.
Two nearby sites are the Kadhimain Mosque (5 mi/8 km from town), with its golden domes and minarets, and Tell Harmal (6 mi/10 km southeast), where clay tablets show that geometry was taught in this region several thousand years ago. Farther out of Baghdad are Baquba (about 40 mi/65 km northeast), which has many ruins, some dating back to 6000 BC; Agargour (20 mi/30 km northwest), which has 15th-century-BC ruins and a 170-ft-/50-m-high ziggurat); the Arch of Ctesiphon (one of the wonders of the Ancient World, the world's largest brick arch was built in the third century BC); the Qadissiya Panorama, depicting various historical scenes; and the 985-ft-/300-m-long and 25-ft-/8-m-high mound walls of Tel Basmaya, about 20 mi/30 km southeast.