Victory Arch

The Victory Arch officially known as the Swords of Q?dis?yah? and popularly referred to as the Hands of Victory or the Crossed Swords, are a pairdefinition needed of triumphal arches in critical Baghdad, Iraq. Each arch consists of a pair of outstretched fingers preserving crossed swords. The arches mark the two entrances to Grand Festivities Square and the parade ground constructed to commemorate the Iran–Iraq War, led by using then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The arches were opened to the general public on 8 August 1989. It is certainly one of Baghdad's traveler points of interest and close to to The Monument to the Unknown Soldier. Iraq's leading sculptor, Khaled al-Rahal, gained the fee to layout and execute the development of the arches, which were based on a idea cartoon made by using president Saddam Hussein.

The layout includes a couple of massive palms emerging from the ground, each preserving a forty three-metre-lengthy sword. However, al-Rahal died in 1987, earlier than the monument turned into completed, and any other eminent Iraqi sculptor, Mohammed Ghani Hikmat, assumed control of the project. Both sculptors worked in close collaboration with Saddam Hussein.