Palace of the Golden Gate

The Palace of the Golden Gate (Qasr Bāb al-Dhahab) or Palace of the Green Dome (Qasr al-Qubbat al-Khaḍrāʾ) was the official caliphal residence in Baghdad during the early Abbasid Caliphate. Baghdad was founded in 762 by the second Abbasid caliph, al-Mansur (r. 754–775). The main part of the original city was the Round City, with the Palace of the Golden Gate and the adjacent Great Mosque of al-Mansur at its centre. Apart from the mosque, no other buildings were allowed to be built close to the palace, which was thus surrounded by a wide open space; only on the northwest, towards the Gate of Syria, two buildings were constructed next to the palace wall: a barracks for the caliph's horse guard, and a two-part gallery, originally intended as an audience hall for the sahib al-shurta (police chief) and the captain of the horse guard respectively, but later came to be used as a public prayer space. Around this space, the palaces of al-Mansur's younger children, quarters for the palace servants, and the offices of the various administrative departments were built. The palace originally occupied an area of 200 square yards (170 m2), with a central building topped by a green dome, 48.36 metres (158.7 ft) high, which gave the palace its alternative name of al-Qubbat al-Khadra'. At the top of the dome was the effigy o

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