Explore the real-world places that appear in Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Bataween District, Tahrir Square, Abu Nuwas Street, Al-Mutanabbi Street, Sarafiya Bridge Area and 6 more.
Central Baghdad, Rusafa — Hadi's neighborhood and the novel's heart
Hadi al-Attag, the scavenger and junk dealer, lives in a ramshackle house in Bataween, once a mixed neighborhood of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim families. Here he stitches together body parts from bombing victims into a single corpse, hoping to force the state to bury them with dignity. When the corpse vanishes and becomes the Whatsitsname, the district becomes the stage for his killings.
Bataween developed in the early 20th century and was historically home to a large Jewish community alongside Christians and Muslims. After most Iraqi Jews left in the early 1950s, the area became more mixed and later declined. It saw bombings and neglect during the post-2003 years.
Bataween is a crowded, working-class commercial district with old residential buildings, small shops, and traffic-heavy streets. Many older houses are dilapidated, though it remains a lively part of central Baghdad.
Rusafa — Freedom Monument and a hub of the city
Tahrir Square is a major crossroads of the city, through which the characters move between neighborhoods like Bataween and the downtown. Bombings and violence in places like this feed Hadi's supply of body parts and give the Whatsitsname its raw material. The square embodies the everyday precarity of Baghdad's residents under occupation.
Tahrir Square was developed in the 20th century as a major civic space. It is home to the Freedom Monument (Nasb al-Hurriya) by Jawad Salim, completed in 1961. The square has been a site of both celebrations and protests, including major demonstrations in 2019.
The Freedom Monument still stands over a busy traffic roundabout and is open to the public as an artistic landmark. The area is a center for demonstrations and a gathering place in central Baghdad.
Visit: Freedom Monument (Nasb al-Hurriya) (monument)
Along the Tigris, Rusafa — riverside promenade
The Tigris riverfront and its famed fish restaurants form part of the Baghdad landscape through which characters like Mahmoud al-Sawadi, the journalist, and others move. The river and its banks anchor the sense of a city with a long past now under strain. The wider cityscape of the book is framed by the waterfront.
Named after the Abbasid poet Abu Nuwas, the street runs along the east bank of the Tigris. In the 20th century it became famous for nightlife and masgouf restaurants. It declined during years of conflict and sectarian violence.
Abu Nuwas Street has been partly revitalized with a riverside park and restaurants serving masgouf, the grilled carp of Baghdad. It is a popular spot for families and evening strolls.
Visit: Abu Nuwas Park (park)
Rusafa — Baghdad's historic book market
Writers, journalists, and editors like Mahmoud al-Sawadi, who chronicles the Whatsitsname's rise in the press, move within the city's intellectual world, of which Mutanabbi Street is the symbolic center. The street stands for the culture and memory that violence threatens to erase. It echoes the novel's concern with stories, rumors, and how they spread.
Named for the 10th-century poet al-Mutanabbi, the street has been the center of Baghdad's book trade for centuries. A car bomb in March 2007 killed dozens and destroyed much of it. It was rebuilt and reopened.
The street hosts a lively Friday book market with booksellers, cafes, and the Shabandar Cafe. A memorial and cultural activities mark its resilience.
Visit: Al-Mutanabbi Street Book Market (landmark)
Tigris River — Rusafa to Adhamiya crossing
Bridges and checkpoints over the Tigris shape movement across the divided city. The Whatsitsname and its pursuers must cross such places as the city is carved up by sectarian fear. The river separates neighborhoods and heightens the sense of a city under siege.
The Sarafiya Bridge, a steel truss bridge built in 1947 and damaged in the 2003 war, was a notable crossing. It collapsed in 2003 after bombing and was later rebuilt. It links Rusafa and Adhamiya.
A rebuilt bridge carries traffic between Adhamiya and Waziriyah districts. It is a working transport link rather than a tourist stop.
Northeast Baghdad — Shiite working-class district
Sadr City is one of the districts associated with the militias and the violence of sectarian Baghdad, which form the backdrop for the monster's killings and the paranoia surrounding it. Characters hear of explosions and killings throughout the sprawling city. It illustrates the fractured political landscape of the occupation years.
Built in the 1950s as Revolution City and later Saddam City, it was renamed Sadr City after 2003 in honor of Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr. It became a stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia.
Sadr City is a densely populated district of millions, with markets and housing blocks. It is residential and not a tourist destination.
Rusafa peninsula — commercial and residential area
Karrada stands among the districts where bombings strike, supplying the broader pattern of violence that Hadi gleans parts from. The ever-present threat of car bombs shapes how ordinary people like the neighborhood's residents live and move. It is part of the wider urban fabric through which rumors of the monster spread.
Karrada is a historic commercial district with Christian and Muslim communities. It was struck by many bombings during the occupation, including a massive attack in July 2016.
Karrada is a busy shopping and dining area with cafes and stores. It remains one of Baghdad's lively commercial centers.
Visit: Karrada Shopping Street (landmark)
Karkh, west bank — U.S. and Iraqi government compound
The Green Zone is the fortified seat of American and Iraqi authority, the very institutions Hadi hoped would recognize and bury his body parts. Officials, intelligence units, and the occupying forces are largely remote from the Baghdad streets, and the Truth Tracking Authority led by Brigadier Majid hunts for the monster from within this world. The contrast between the secure zone and the chaotic city drives the novel's satire.
The Green Zone was established by the Coalition Provisional Authority after the 2003 invasion in the area around former Saddam-era palaces. It housed the U.S. embassy and Iraqi government buildings. Parts were opened to the public in 2019–2022.
The area still houses government offices, embassies, and the Republican Palace. Access has been gradually relaxed but is still controlled.
South Baghdad — site of sectarian conflict
Dora is among the districts shaken by violence and displacement, representing the south of the city where fear and death run rampant. The sectarian strife in such neighborhoods is part of the world that produces the corpses and the Whatsitsname's vengeance. The novel's wide survey of Baghdad includes the broad reach of killings.
Dora was a mixed neighborhood and home to a large Christian population and an oil refinery. It became a major battleground during 2006–2007. Many residents fled.
Dora is a residential and industrial area that has partly recovered. Some displaced families have returned.
Rusafa — old wholesale market
Markets like Shorjah are among the crowded places targeted by bombings, scenes of the carnage from which Hadi collects remains. The blasts leave bodies in pieces that no one claims. Such places mark the origin of the creature's patchwork flesh.
Shorjah is one of Baghdad's oldest wholesale markets, in the old city near al-Rashid Street. It suffered a deadly bombing in 2007 and other attacks.
Shorjah remains a bustling market selling spices, grains, and household goods. It is a working commercial area with a traditional atmosphere.
Visit: Shorja Market (landmark)
Rusafa — historic main avenue
Al-Rashid Street's old buildings and decaying grandeur echo the faded cosmopolitan Baghdad that Elishva, the old Christian woman who awaits her missing son Daniel, remembers. Her stubborn memory and the neighborhood's loss are bound together with the creature's appearance. The street runs through the world of older residents like Elishva who watch it crumble.
Built in 1916 under Ottoman rule and named for Caliph Harun al-Rashid, it was Baghdad's first modern street. It was a center of cinemas, cafes, and commerce in the mid-20th century. It has long been in decline.
The street retains many dilapidated historic buildings, with shops and traffic. Restoration efforts have been discussed but it is still largely run-down.
Visit: Al-Rashid Street (landmark)
More by Ahmed Saadawi: All Ahmed Saadawi books
Other nearby maps: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid locations map