More than 100 lavish palaces and villas of Iraq’s former dictator Saddam Hussein lie in ruins

More than 100 lavish palaces and villas lie in ruins across the war-torn country of Iraq. The dilapidated buildings were constructed by former dictator Saddam Hussein, who visited some of them only once or twice. Many of the buildings are now unused, after Saddam was ousted by a US-led invasion in 2003. The dictator was executed by hanging three years after the conflict. Only a few of the remaining buildings have been refurbished for use as military bases, public administration facilities as well as a museum and university.