The city was founded in 762 as the capital of the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, and for the next 500 years it was the most significant cultural centre of Arab and Islamic civilization and one of the greatest cities of the world. It was conquered by the Mongol leader Hülegü in 1258, after which its importance waned.

Is Baghdad the oldest city?

Baghdad is a mere baby, too, when compared with Uruk, another ancient Mesopotamian urban settlement, which lays claim to being one of the world's earliest cities and which was, sometime around 3,200BC, the largest urban centre on earth with a population estimated at up to 80,000.

How was Baghdad built?

In 762 CE the Abbasid Caliphate, under the Caliph al-Mansur, moved the capital of the Muslim world to the newly founded city of Baghdad. The city, known as 'the Round City', was built as two large semicircles with a mosque at the centre and housed the caliph's palace, libraries, government and military buildings.