Baghdad- When you walk through the old paths and alleys of Baghdad, your feet lead you to a building on the Tigris shore from the side of Rusafa, on top of it is a piece that reads “Al-Rashdiya Military School”, and directly below it “Baghdadi Cultural Center”, two addresses that tell part of Baghdad’s cultural history for centuries.
The history of the establishment of the school dates back to the second half of the 19th century, when the Ottoman authorities decided at the time to establish a series of “modern schools” in various provinces, after the children were receiving their education in the kotaib.
The building was used for several purposes during the previous decades, as it turned into a hospital during the First World War, and then became the seat of civil and criminal courts, and then a religious institute in the nineties of the last century.
Cultural center
After the building was closed after the US invasion of the country in 2003, it was restored and opened in 2011 to be a cultural center that opens its doors to the public, and various cultural events and activities are held every week.
When you pass its wooden gate, you will be greeted by a short corridor, then a wide courtyard. In one corner you will find young men displaying paintings for them, and in another corner girls will set up a charitable market, and this space may have hosted a poetry festival or a theatrical performance.
The schoolyard witnesses cultural and social activities every Friday (Al-Jazeera)As for the halls of the building – which bear the names of Iraqi poets, artists and thinkers – they are on a weekly date with lectures and cultural seminars, which many Baghdadis regularly attend.
Since the building’s opening again about a decade ago, it has turned into an outlet for many young creators who are looking for windows through which they view the audience, which is what Zahra Habib, who participates in a charitable market, says the proceeds of which go to the poor.
As for Fahd Ali, he used to display his paintings to those interested in plastic art in the school yard, he and a number of his colleagues who could not find a place to display their artistic production, so they came from time to time to participate.
A hall inside the school where heritage pieces are displayed (Al-Jazeera)Abbasid school
Historical sources indicate that the building of the current Rashidiya School was originally a school built at the end of the Abbasid era, and it was known as “Prince Saada School”, the servant of the Caliph Al-Mustazir Billah. Financial matters during the time of the Mamluks, who ruled Iraq between 1749 and 1831.
Then Governor Medhat Pasha decided in 1870 to use it as a modern military school, which would receive a number of Baghdad’s sons to qualify them to study later at the Military College in Istanbul, and it was opened during the reign of Governor Abdul Rahman Pasha in 1879.
Al-Obaidi: The school played a role in establishing the modern Iraqi army (Al-Jazeera)The building covers an area of about 6000 square meters, and consists of two floors, with a large courtyard in the middle, and contains 25 rooms of varying sizes, most of which have been transformed into halls that receive cultural activities every week, or exhibitions of antiques and heritage pieces.
According to the heritage researcher Yasser Al-Obaidi, education in the school lasted 4 years, and included a number of subjects, including religious sciences, Turkish and Arabic grammar, arithmetic, drawing, general history, Ottoman history, geography, and more.
Al-Obaidi adds to Al Jazeera Net that the school played a major role in establishing the nucleus of the modern Iraqi military institution later, as many officers who served in the Ottoman army graduated from it, and later founded the Iraqi army in 1921.
Among the most prominent graduates of it is Jaafar al-Askari, who is nicknamed “the father of the Iraqi army.” Others held important positions in the civil and military institutions of the fledgling state. Its directors and all teachers and staff working in it were officers, except for teachers of religion and languages.
Al-Obaidi suggests investing other historical and heritage buildings in Baghdad for tourism purposes, such as the Abbasid Palace, the Mustansiriya School, the Wastani Gate and others, similar to the experiences of other neighboring countries.
Issa: The Cultural Center hosted 1,600 events during 2021 (Al-Jazeera)cultural destination
Since its reopening, the Rashidiya School or Al-Baghdadi Cultural Center has become a weekly destination for thousands of Iraqis and some foreign delegations visiting the country.
The director of the center, Talib Issa, says that his institution holds more than 1,000 annual events in the building, and the average number of its weekly visitors is more than 3,000.
Issa adds to Al Jazeera Net that the center reopened in October 2020 after being rehabilitated and maintained, as well as after lifting the ban caused by the Corona pandemic, which halted most cultural events in Iraq.
The cultural activities that the center hosted in 2021 varied, including seminars, festivals, conferences, literary mornings, photographic and plastic exhibitions, cinematic and theatrical performances, with an average of 1,600 events.
Exhibits witnessing a turnout of attendees in the school yard (Al-Jazeera)The center also houses private libraries for well-known Iraqi personalities, such as the archaeologist Ahmed Soussa, the poet Nazik Al-Malaika, the historian Salem Al-Alusi, the writer and historian Abdul Razzaq Al-Hilali and others. precedent.
Issa confirms that the center’s library contains thousands of books in various fields, and it opens its doors to researchers and knowledge seekers throughout the week, and work is currently underway to classify and index them.
And because the school is located at the end of Al-Mutanabbi Street, and near the Al-Qashla building and the Warraqin market or “Al-Saray”, its visit has become part of the weekly activity for those who go to those places, which made it easier for Baghdadis to take a quick tour in the heart of the old city on Friday, in a country full of historical and heritage buildings. .
