Shanasheel Al-Basra

Shanasheel was known in Iraq, according to specialists, in the seventeenth century AD, and it started to compete palm trees in demonstrating the aesthetic identity of the Iraqi cities. It was considered one of the landmarks of these historical cities. The Shanasheel, as the specialists say, are wooden decorated balconies that accentuate the entire second floor façade, and can be reached from one room to another in a cantilevered way forward, and this protrusion is made of wood, usually with geometric garlands. Shanasheels appeared first in Basra, and then this style was transferred to Baghdad and the rest of the Iraqi cities. Historical sources indicate that the origin of the word Shanasheel is Persian, and it is a compound of (Shah) and (Nasheel) which means the seat of the Great Shah or the best of seats.