Malwiya Tower of the Great Mosque of Samarra

From the MIR tour brochure: "Finished in 851 during the Abbasid Caliphate, the Great Mosque of Samarra was the largest on the planet when first completed. Its most remarkable component is the spiral Malwiya Tower, a minaret that can still be climbed today." Sort of like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but a couple of millenia older.

Photos of the tower with our Local Tour Guide Haana, Haana with Elsa, and Elsa with me.

The mosque is bounded by huge walls, with ornate ceilings.