BAGHDAD — Khan Murjan, built in 1358 by Amin al-Din Murjan al-Alkhani, has been used for many purposes in its long life. Initially a caravanserai, or inn for travelers, this magnificent example of 14th-century architecture consists of large, high-ceilinged rooms on two stories around a closed paved courtyard. The building was first turned into a museum in 1935, then closed down. In 2003, it was reopened as a luxury restaurant, with traditional music playing.

But this treasured historical heritage is far from being well-kept. Its southern courtyard was filled with sewage for months recently until finally the local authorities repaired a broken pipe. But the whole water and sewage system needs an overhaul to prevent the same thing from happening again.

Khan Murjan is hardly an isolated case. Many of the old buildings in Iraq’s capital are falling apart. Some have already been left to collapse so the land can be used to build modern buildings. The home of Iraq’s first finance minister, Sassoon Eskell, in Baghdad was demolished in August 2016 and put up for new construction by the Baghdad municipality, but nothing has been done on the land so far. The home of Prime Minister Yasin al-Hashimi, described by Iraqi architect and academic Khaled al-Sultani as one of the most important features of modernity in Iraq, was demolished without any objections from the General Authority for Antiquities and Heritage, whose role is precisely to protect such architectural heritage. The Syriac Catholic Church in Shorja, which closed its doors in 2017 due to lack of attendance, was demolished and will be replaced by commercial development.

Some of the historical buildings that have managed to escape collapse have become eyesores. Despite the set of laws and instructions regulating their restoration as close as possible to the original, many have simply been “repaired” or “strengthened” with strange aluminum sheets or slabs of concrete.