Alqadisiyah
A visitor to the city of Diwaniyah, which is about 193 km south of Baghdad, must visit the most important tourist attractions in the city, the most important of which are:
Nippur Ruins:
10 kilometers from Afak district, the ruins of the historical city are located, where its high hills stand out. It was famous in the history of the civilization of Mesopotamia in its sacred religious status, as it was a great center of worship for the Sumerian god (Enlil) and was famous in the exploits of Mesopotamia that the kings and rulers were not to prove the legitimacy of their rule and their assumption of power, especially in ancient times, only after they received the crown, hollows and other royal insignia.
The archaeological area includes the remains of the ziggurat, which was the sacred place in which man communicates with the gods. In this ziggurat, the god (Enlil), the master of earth and sky, as he was called, was worshiped.
Also, outside its ancient wall, there is the hill of inscrption, in which the excavators found a large number of clay tablets that contained various types of knowledge. The most important discovery was the finding of a clay inscription containing a map of Nafar and the names of its neighborhoods, which indicates the grandeur of the city’s construction and the progress of its planning at that time, where archaeologists inferred the landmarks of the holy city.
Zarb Castle:
This castle is located in the Ghamas district, 45 km southwest of the city of Diwaniyah. It dates back to the period of the Ottoman presence in Iraq and is believed to have been built around 1770 AD. It was named by this name, attributed to the prince of the Khaza’al clans, Dharb bin Mughamis bin Shallal Al-Khazali, as this strategic castle was handed over to him by the Ottoman Empire to ensure the calm of the clans and not to provoke unrest against the Ottomans because of the influence of the Khaza’al reign in those areas.
The Zarb Castle had an important role during the Twentieth Revolution in Iraq against the British occupation, as quantities of the rebels’ weapons were recently found, including swords, daggers and shields.
The castle is almost square in shape with a slight variation in the length of the four walls. It includes four watchtowers distributed in the four corners of the castle. Its walls are very thick and has a water well in the middle of the inner courtyard and double staircases for each watchtower. It is also characterized by decorated windows and internal arches, and has only one entrance because it is a defensive fortress.
King Ghazi Palace:
At a distance of 20 km to the north-east of the city of Daghara, the Euphrates River splits into the two branches of Dagara and Diwaniyah. In the place where the two branches of Dagara and Al-Diwaniyah separate, is the King Ghazi Palace. It is a house built of bricks consisting of a hall, four rooms and a fenced yard with some palms and rose seedlings. The people and the state called this house (King’s Palace), but it is not similar to palaces in anything. Rather, it is a temporary resting place and a hunting headquarters built for the convenience of King Ghazi. In addition to that, the king used it to meet the sheikhs of the middle Euphrates clans. The area of the palace is eight acres, and it contains a museum that includes collectibles and pictures of the kings of Iraq, and the entrance is decorated with statues of the three kings and cannons dating back to the Ottoman era.
Al-Damlaj Marsh:
It is considered as one of the most beautiful Iraqi marshes and extends over an area of 120,000 acres, located between Wasit Governorate and Al-Diwaniyah Governorate, about 170 km from the capital, Baghdad. It is characterized by its picturesque islands and beautiful blue waters.
It is also characterized by biological diversity, as many local and migratory birds are endemic to the island, and its waters embrace a large amount of fish, which constitute a source of livelihood for thousands of families.
