Dictionary of Islamic Architecture   Raqqa (Raqqah, Nicephorium, Rakka, Ar-Raqqa) Prominent Abbasid and medieval city located on the Euphrates river in Syria. Definition Raqqa was founded by Alexander the Great and was known as Leontopolis in the Byzantine period. In 639 the town was captured by the Arabs and renamed Raqqa. In 772 the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur founded a new city, west of the old one, which he enclosed with a wall similar to that of Baghdad, with an inner and an outer wall and a moat or ditch. The remains of the walls can still be seen and form a rounded enclosure with a straight wall on the south side. The inner wall still survives to a height of 10 m in... [more] See also Abbasids; Baghdad; Samarra; Syria Further Reading J.-C. Heusch and M. Meinecke, 'Grabungen im abbasidischen Palastareal von ar-Raqqa/ar-Rafiqa'. Damaszener Mitteilungen 2: 85-105, 1985. M. al-Khalaf, 'Die abbasidische Stadtmauer von ar-Raqqa/ ar Rafiqa', Damaszener Mitteilungen 2: 122-31, 1985. J. Warren, The date of the Baghdad Gate at Raqqa', Art and Archaeology Research Papers XIII: 22-3, 1978. Related ArchNet Materials   Place Raqqah Search Alphabetically A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Legal Notes Contact ArchNet