• Address:

    Ahmed Djemal Pasha Palace, Al-Rashid Street, Baghdad, Iraq

  • Client:

    Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic

  • Description of work:

    Restoration survey, project study

  • Realization:

    2004

The palace is located on Al Rashid Street and its rear tract protrudes above the Tigris River (in Arabic: Dijlah). The building was the residence of Baghdad's Turkish Vice-President Ahmed Jamal Pash in 1911-12, after whom it bears its name. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the palace was bought by the English first, followed by it became the seat of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, the Central Council of Trade Unions or the Police Court.

On October 4, 2004 a Czech delegation accompanied by the Director-General of the Iraqi State Council for Monuments and Cultural Heritage visited the building. The Czech delegation, which also includes representatives of GEMA ART GROUP a.s., expressed an interest in implementing the overall reconstruction of the building with the possibility of its future use as a Czech House.

On the basis of the negotiations, a basic survey was carried out, for a long time an empty building owned by the State Council.  The disused palace was built in Ottoman-Baghdad style, which was subsequently affected by adaptations during the time of English domination and national revival. This palace was a building model for many of Baghdad’s houses in its time, and therefore the Iraqi heritage care has already carried out a basic protection, the cleaning of the site and the removal of some unoriginal modifications. The GEMA ART GROUP a.s. rehabilitation study was drafted in the Hulec & Spicka Architects atelier as a starting material for further negotiations of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Unfortunately, the security situation in Baghdad prevented further action, and the intention to implement the Czech House in this palace was not realized.