Reconstruction of the heritage Ziada House in Mosul City: Case study

Abstract

The Ziada House, an iconic national heritage house in Mosul City with a rich architectural legacy dating back over 150 years, faced significant structural damage during the city's liberation from ISIS. In 2020, UNESCO initiated the restoration of this historic landmark as part of its "Reviving the Spirit of Mosul" program. The project, which aimed to rehabilitate the remaining parts and rebuild the destroyed parts of the house, was successfully implemented with significant funding from the European Union and in close cooperation with the Iraqi Ministry of Culture and local authorities. This article presents a detailed case study on the reconstruction and restoration of Ziada House, adhering to its original architectural design by utilizing the same building materials and traditional construction methods. Notably, the research introduces a novel method for coding heritage stones, enabling easy identification and differentiation from replaced stones and original stones, whether rebuilt in their original location or elsewhere. This research sheds light, for the first time, on the practice of embedding tree trunks within the walls of heritage buildings in Mosul City, and unveils the primary purpose of this ancient technique.