Iraq · Baghdad Governorate · Baghdad
Al-Rusafa, Baghdad — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Al-Rusafa is the east-bank half of Baghdad, home to the National Museum of Iraq and the Freedom Monument.
About Al-Rusafa
Where to stay in Al-Rusafa
Where you base yourself shapes the visit — here's the character of each area.
Al-Rusafa is the busier bank of Baghdad, and most of the city's older hotels sit inside it. Visitors who want to walk to the National Museum of Iraq, the Freedom Monument and the museums of the centre tend to base themselves here rather than across the Tigris. The commercial spine runs along the old thoroughfares.
Book close to the museums.
About Al-Rusafa
What are the main landmarks in Al-Rusafa?
The district carries much of Baghdad's public memory. The National Museum of Iraq holds Mesopotamian collections, the National Museum of Modern Art and the Abd Al-Karim Qasim Museum sit nearby, and the Freedom Monument rises over a central square while the Kahramana fountain retells a folk tale in bronze. Churches thread the same streets.
The Latin Saint Joseph Cathedral, the Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral and the St. Gregory the Great Armenian Church mark a long Christian presence on the east bank. Sport has a home too, at the Baghdad Gymnasium.
What is the history of Al-Rusafa?
Al-Rusafa is the older civic core of Baghdad. Its squares gathered the modern city's institutions, and the Freedom Monument was raised across a central plaza to mark the mid-century turn in Iraqi politics, giving the east bank a lasting focal point. Museums followed the monuments.
The National Museum of Iraq became the keeper of Mesopotamian antiquity, and later the Abd Al-Karim Qasim Museum fixed a particular chapter of the district's story in place. Faith left its own marks here. The Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral stands among them.
Where is Al-Rusafa?
Al-Rusafa is the eastern half of Baghdad, spread along the far bank of the Tigris across the flat subtropical plain, with the Karkh half of the city facing it from the opposite shore.
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More areas in Baghdad
Updated July 2026