Shafaq News- Nineveh

Iraq’s historic Al-Nuri Grand Mosque Museum in Nineveh, northern Iraq, and the original prayer hall opened the doors to tourists, as part of the project to revive heritage landmarks in Mosul’s Old City, a local official told Shafaq News on Monday.

Ruwaid Al-Layla, head of the province’s Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage, said that the site is now open for archaeological tourism, with ticket prices set at 25,000 Iraqi dinars ($16.67) for foreign visitors and 3,000 dinars ($2.00) for Iraqis. “Visiting hours run daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time.”

The museum features major archaeological discoveries dating back about 850 years, including four underground rooms believed to have served as ablution facilities in the 12th century during the Atabeg period. Archaeologists uncovered the rooms near the mosque’s original prayer hall during reconstruction works, finding pottery vessels and carved stone artifacts that shed new light on aspects of the site’s history not previously documented in detail.

Al-Layla added that the archaeological features have been integrated into the mosque’s new design as part of a museum showcasing the site’s long history.

The Muslim ruler Nur Ad-Din Zangi built the mosque in 1172 on the western bank of Mosul. It underwent several reconstruction phases, most recently in 1944. In June 2014, ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared the group’s so-called caliphate from the mosque’s pulpit, and in June 2017, as Iraqi forces advanced to liberate the area, ISIS destroyed the mosque’s iconic Al-Hadba minaret.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani inaugurated the Al-Nuri Grand Mosque and its Al-Hadba minaret in the heart of Mosul’s Old City on September 1, 2025, following their reconstruction with funding from the United Arab Emirates and supervision by UNESCO under the “Revive the Spirit of Mosul” initiative.

Read more: Al-Nouri Mosque: a historical and architectural examination