Erbil Citadel is an imposing example of a multilayered archaeological mound still physically emerging from the surrounding landscape. The physical structure of the Citadel town is characterized by the permanence of the Ottoman period urban form and street pattern on top of the mound. Its shape with definite boundaries has in part dictated the transformations of the urban fabric which still exhibits the typical Ottoman period traditional articulation in functional districts and comprises some fine examples of residential buildings dating back to the 19th – 20th centuries, and, to a lesser degree, to the 18th century.