Ancient Ruins in Iraq Open to Visitors After War Damage
2022-09-17
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Once, the Iraqi town of Hatra was under the control of the Islamic State (IS) militant group.
2Now, visitors can walk peacefully through the UNESCO world heritage site in the northern part of Iraq.
3Local leaders are trying to bring tourists back to the area after the invaders almost destroyed the ancient ruins.
4Hatra dates back to more than 2300 years ago.
5It takes about two hours to drive there from Mosul, the former "capital" of IS.
6Iraqi and coalition forces recaptured Mosul in 2017.
7On Saturday, the first group of tourists arrived.
8A private museum in Mosul arranged the trip for about 40 visitors, most of them Iraqis.
9They walked around the more than 2,000-year-old ruins as the sun began to go down.
10The tourists took photos of themselves in front of walkways.
11They inspected the stone structures that the IS extremists damaged.
12Luna Batota is a 33-year-old visiting Hatra with her Belgian husband.
13"It has great history," she said.
14A native of Iraq, Batota left her homeland 24 years ago.
15This is the first time she has returned. Visiting Hatra caused her to have "mixed feelings," she said.
16"You see bullet holes; you see many empty bullets."
17Hatra was an important religious and trading center under the Parthian empire.
18It had high, thick walls for defense and magnificent temples.
19The buildings combined Greek and Roman building designs with Asian decorations.
20In 2015, IS released a video showing its militants destroying some of the sculptures at Hatra, firing guns at them and cutting them with tools.
21Some of the sculptures have been repaired.
22In February, officials showed three figures experts had returned to their earlier appearance.
23Five years after the defeat of IS, Mosul and its surroundings have gone back to feeling more normal.
24But efforts to make repairs have met with problems and many areas still show the results of the fight against the extremists.
25Many visitors - especially ones from the West - are now exploring the country. Some even go into Mosul.
26The Mosul Heritage House is a private museum that opened in June.
27It organized the tour of Hatra.
28Those in the Hatra group were among the first visitors.
29They came at a time when the US, British and other governments are warning their citizens against travel to Iraq.
30They say there are still risks of terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict and civil unrest.
31An incident involving a British tourist, James Fitton, may have hurt tourism in Iraq.
32Fitton was arrested in March and condemned to 15 years in jail over pieces of pottery he picked up at an archaeological site.
33In July, a court reversed the decision and he flew back home.
34Religious tourism to the Shiite holy cities of Karbala and Najaf has been growing, mostly from Iran.
35Some major problems remain, however.
36Services and transportation for tourists are still basic in Iraq.
37Although the country is rich in oil, there has been much damage from the years of fighting.
38Beriar Bahaa al-Din is a doctoral student in anthropology at the University of Exeter in Britain.
39He was part of the group visiting Hatra.
40He said: "Mosul isn't only war, IS, terrorism. Mosul is a civilization, heritage, culture.
41" It "should be full of tourists from across the globe."
42I'm Jill Robbins.
1Once, the Iraqi town of Hatra was under the control of the Islamic State (IS) militant group. Now, visitors can walk peacefully through the UNESCO world heritage site in the northern part of Iraq. 2Local leaders are trying to bring tourists back to the area after the invaders almost destroyed the ancient ruins. 3Hatra dates back to more than 2300 years ago. It takes about two hours to drive there from Mosul, the former "capital" of IS. Iraqi and coalition forces recaptured Mosul in 2017. 4On Saturday, the first group of tourists arrived. A private museum in Mosul arranged the trip for about 40 visitors, most of them Iraqis. They walked around the more than 2,000-year-old ruins as the sun began to go down. 5The tourists took photos of themselves in front of walkways. They inspected the stone structures that the IS extremists damaged. 6Luna Batota is a 33-year-old visiting Hatra with her Belgian husband. "It has great history," she said. 7A native of Iraq, Batota left her homeland 24 years ago. This is the first time she has returned. Visiting Hatra caused her to have "mixed feelings," she said. "You see bullet holes; you see many empty bullets." 8Hatra was an important religious and trading center under the Parthian empire. It had high, thick walls for defense and magnificent temples. The buildings combined Greek and Roman building designs with Asian decorations. 9In 2015, IS released a video showing its militants destroying some of the sculptures at Hatra, firing guns at them and cutting them with tools. Some of the sculptures have been repaired. In February, officials showed three figures experts had returned to their earlier appearance. 10Tourists at risk 11Five years after the defeat of IS, Mosul and its surroundings have gone back to feeling more normal. But efforts to make repairs have met with problems and many areas still show the results of the fight against the extremists. 12Many visitors - especially ones from the West - are now exploring the country. Some even go into Mosul. 13The Mosul Heritage House is a private museum that opened in June. 14It organized the tour of Hatra. 15Those in the Hatra group were among the first visitors. They came at a time when the US, British and other governments are warning their citizens against travel to Iraq. They say there are still risks of terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict and civil unrest. 16An incident involving a British tourist, James Fitton, may have hurt tourism in Iraq. Fitton was arrested in March and condemned to 15 years in jail over pieces of pottery he picked up at an archaeological site. In July, a court reversed the decision and he flew back home. 17Religious tourism to the Shiite holy cities of Karbala and Najaf has been growing, mostly from Iran. 18Not only war 19Some major problems remain, however. Services and transportation for tourists are still basic in Iraq. Although the country is rich in oil, there has been much damage from the years of fighting. 20Beriar Bahaa al-Din is a doctoral student in anthropology at the University of Exeter in Britain. He was part of the group visiting Hatra. 21He said: "Mosul isn't only war, IS, terrorism. Mosul is a civilization, heritage, culture." It "should be full of tourists from across the globe." 22I'm Jill Robbins. 23Jill Robbins adapted this French News Agency story for VOA Learning English. 24________________________________________________ 25Words in This Story 26site - n. the position or location of a town, building, or the like 27tourist -n. someone who travels to a place for enjoyment and not for business 28decoration - n. an addition that makes something more attractive 29sculpture - n. a work of art that is produced by carving or shaping stone, wood, clay, or other materials 30pottery - n. pots, dishes, and other objects which are made from clay and then baked in an oven until they are hard. 31anthropology -n. the study of human, their society and culture 32What do you think of the opening of tourist sites in Iraq? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 33Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them.