Saudi Arabia

Turaif Quarter

WHS Score 2.29 Votes 36 Average 2.54

The At-Turaif District in ad-Dir’iyah encompasses the remains of a traditional human settlement developed in a desert environment, dating from the 15th century.

ad-Dir’iyah was the original home of the Saudi royal family, served as the capital of the first Saudi dynasty from 1744 to 1818 and is associated with the the spread of Salafism. Its remains consist almost entirely of mud-brick structures including palaces. They are a unique example of the Najdi architectural and decorative style developed to cope with the extreme desert climate.

Community Perspective: Most reviewers so far have been limited to external views, as the site has laid untouched for a long time and only recently became the focus of major restoration works. From 2023 on, the site has become accessible (and seems worth it!) but it needs prior booking.

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Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
At-Turaif District in ad-Dir’iyah (ID: 1329)
Country
Saudi Arabia
Status
Inscribed 2010 Site history
History of Turaif Quarter
WHS Type
Cultural
Criteria
  • iv
  • v
  • vi
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
News Article
  • Feb. 24, 2023 edition.cnn.com — Diriyah: The latest ‘giga project’ aiming to transform Saudi Arabia
  • Dec. 16, 2022 thenationalnews.com — Saudi Arabia reopening Unesco-listed Diriyah to the public for the first time in a decade
  • July 25, 2010 saudigazette.com.sa — ICOMOS had shown technical reservations about Al-Dir'iya, but the Saudi permanent representative is continuing his efforts to have Al-Dir'iya included.

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Archaeological site: Near Eastern
Travel Information
Reservation required
Reservation required
To be able to enter the area, pre-booking a slot …
Recent Connections
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Connections of Turaif Quarter
History
  • Sieges and Battles
    From Wiki "....led to the Ottoman-Saudi War of 1811-1818 and an invasion of Arabia by Ottoman and Egyptian forces brought the Saudi state to an end in 1818, with Diriyah capitulating after a nearly-year-long siege. The leader of the invading force, Ibrahim Pasha, ordered the destruction of Diriyah. However, when a member of the local nobility tried to revive the Wahhabi state in Diriyah, Ibrahim ordered his troops to destroy the town even further and set whatever was left of it on fire. When the Saudis revived their fortunes in 1824 and again in 1902, they made their capital further south in Riyadh, which remained their capital ever since.
  • Located in a Former Capital
    first capital of the Saudi Dynasty
Architecture
  • Earth Architecture
    "It bears witness to a building method that is well adapted to its environment, to the use of adobe in major palatial complexes, .." (OUV crit iv)
Damaged
  • Destroyed during invasion
    From Wiki "....led to the Ottoman-Saudi War of 1811?1818 and an invasion of Arabia by Ottoman and Egyptian forces brought the Saudi state to an end in 1818, with Diriyah capitulating after a nearly-year-long siege. The leader of the invading force, Ibrahim Pasha, ordered the destruction of Diriyah. However, when a member of the local nobility tried to revive the Wahhabi state in Diriyah, Ibrahim ordered his troops to destroy the town even further and set whatever was left of it on fire. When the Saudis revived their fortunes in 1824 and again in 1902, they made their capital further south in Riyadh, which remained their capital ever since.
Religion and Belief
  • Notable mosques
    Moudhi Mosque, which was rehabilitated as a mosque by the 20th century inhabitants (AB ev)
Human Activity
  • Palm Groves
    "The palm plantations and the oasis landscape bear witness to the agricultural origins of ad-Dir’iyah." (AB ev)
WHS on Other Lists
Timeline
  • Built in the 18th century
    "The site illustrates a significant highpoint of settlement in the central Arabian plateau in a desert environment when in the mid-18th century the town of ad-Dir'iyah became the capital of an independent state" (Crit V justif). "Founded in 15C ...its development reached an initial apogee in the 16th century.. In the 18C and early 19C,..it became the centre of the temporal power of the House of Saud... In the 18C successive imams ..fortified the oasis ..This was a period marked by urban development and the construction of the citadel of at-Turaif. In the second half of the 18th century and at the start of the 19C... The urban ensemble linked with the oasis was developed, particularly the Salwa palaces in the citadel of at-Turaif... The site provides a very full account of Najdi town-planning from the mid-18th century until the start of the 19C." (AB).
Visiting conditions
News
edition.cnn.com 02/24/2023
Diriyah: The latest ‘giga project’…
thenationalnews.com 12/16/2022
Saudi Arabia reopening Unesco-list…
saudigazette.com.sa 07/25/2010
ICOMOS had shown technical reserva…
Recent Visitors
Reserved for members.

Community Reviews

Show full reviews
First published: 14/11/24.

Svein Elias

Turaif Quarter

Turaif Quarter (Inscribed)

Turaif Quarter by Svein Elias

We, Philipp and his son plus Randi and me, visited this site october. We had a rental and intended to see all the Saudia Arabia WHS’ plus most of the TWHS’ in an extended week. We met up late night in Riyadh airport, picked up the car and stayed overnight in a nearby hotel. The following morning, we headed for At-Turaif.

The parking is inconvenient a bit off the entrance. We parked in a parking garage which was convenient to avoid an overheated car, but we still had to walk to the site in the burning sun. I don’t remember exactly the temperature at that moment, but coming from norther Europe hitting 35-40 degrees Celsius is tough.

As previous reviewer says in his review you need a ticket to enter, but it is all online and free. It’s more like a registration. To start registration, you scan a QR code on a poster on the street outside the restaurant area. Only one of us scanned and registered all of us. After registration, we were free to roam (through the restaurant area and) into the ruin city. The only obstacle we had was we had one big camera, and we were not allowed to bring it into the site. We had to leave it at a counter in an office. Phones were all right, we could take the pictures we wanted with that device.

Our visit lasted for an hour and a half, and we could visit most …

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First published: 11/06/24.

Tony H.

Turaif Quarter

Turaif Quarter (Inscribed)

Turaif Quarter by Tony H.

Visited in February 2024. Things are changing fast in Saudi Arabia and At-Turaif Quarter is not an exception to that. I visited At-Turaif (also known as Diriyah) on a weekday just before the Saudi Founding Day. My Uber took me to the entrance of Bujairi Terrace, a fancy restaurant and shopping district, that you have to walk through to get to the historical site. You needed a ticket to enter, which you got by scanning a QR code at the entrance, and the ticket was for free, which might have been because of the Founding Day.

After getting my free ticket checked at the entrance to Bujairi Terrace, I walked through the district to the entrance of the historical site. You are greeted by a brand new visitor centre and friendly staff but I didn't find the centre to be very informative. From there I started to walk around the site. Somehow I managed to do it in the wrong direction despite there being guides in every corner greeting you, but you are supposed to start from the mosque ruins, not from the money museum. The site has few museums here and there (at least for money, Arabian horses and house-building) which you don't need to pay separately to visit. Lots of construction is still going on and many side streets are blocked. The renovation work is bit too perfect and sometimes the site feels like an instagram set for a good photo shoot. I spent couple hours walking …

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First published: 27/10/23.

Mohboh

Turaif Quarter

Turaif Quarter (Inscribed)

Turaif Quarter by marcel staron

I visited At Turaif in the early evening when the air temperature had dropped to an acceptable level. Entrance to the historic area was only possible through Bujairi Terrace, a newly opened area full of elegant restaurants, the construction of which was probably one of the reasons why At Turaif was inaccessible for so long.

Just on the edge of Bujairi Terrace, a man speaking good English stopped me and asked for a ticket, which surprised me as I had no idea about the need to buy a ticket in advance. When I explained the situation to him, he smiled and let me in, saying that next time I would have to buy the ticket online.

It took me about 5 minutes to walk from the entrance of Bujairi Terrace to the pedestrian bridge that connects Bujairi Terrace to At Turaif. 

I was pleasantly surprised by At Turaif itself. I am convinced that the below average rating of this monument by other visitors is mainly due to the fact that they visited the site before it was fully open. The site has a pleasant atomosphere, which was enhanced by artificial lighting in the evening. There are not many fully preserved buildings on the site, but a visit still gives a good idea of the extent and architecture of the historic town. During the tour, it is possible to visit several galleries free of charge that are dedicated to the history of At Turaif and the Arabian Horses.

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First published: 19/01/23.

Martina Rúčková

Turaif Quarter

Turaif Quarter (Inscribed)

Turaif Quarter by Martina Rúčková

Ivan and I visited this WHS on our return trip from Al Ahsa Oasis, heading to Buraydah and Ha'il Rock Art, Riyadh being conveniently on our way. So we made a short break in the Ad-Diriyah section, where At-Turaif, the first capital of the Saud dynasty, is located. It was founded in the 15th century, its importance grew in the 18th century, and it was destroyed in 1818 during the Ottoman Empire's attack on Arabia.

Interestingly, even though the royal family regained control of the area, they did not rush into its reconstruction (see Solivagant's review below for more on that). Inscription on the list of world cultural heritage probably helped to solve this dilemma, and at the same time, the concept of the entire Ad-Diriyah neighborhood was devised, which should combine the modern with the old. The plan is to preserve the historic part of At-Turaif and build around it a modern district with shops, restaurants, hotels and a convention center - all in the same clay tones, albeit with more modern architecture.

Unfortunately, it was still a big construction site at the time of our visit. The historical part itself was quite difficult to find, as others (special shoutout to Thomas and Wojciech) have also complained about it. The official parking lot is about a kilometer from At-Turaif, one part of the road is closed, no pointers anywhere. So we just eyeballed the location based on the map and parked in a nearby parking lot intended …

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First published: 17/01/16.

Jay T

Turaif Quarter

Turaif Quarter (Inscribed)

Turaif Quarter by Jay T

The Turaif Quarter in Al-Diriyyah is not the easiest World Heritage Site to access, as I found when I visited in fall 2012. The quarter is located in the valley of Wadi Hanifa, northwest of the city of Riyadh, and it was the first capital for the Saudi royal family. The green of the wadi was refreshing, but I really wish I'd been able to see more of the mud-brick structures composing the old capital. Unfortunately, the Turaif Quarter was undergoing restoration during my visit, and I was unable to enter through all the construction. Instead, I had to resign myself to viewing the quarter from a section of the old city wall located within the buffer zone at the top of the valley, and to driving on the road alongside the quarter in order to watch the restoration work in progress. The old city wall did provide an up-close view of mud-brick construction similar to other buildings within the quarter, which was some consolation for only being able to view the inscribed area from the outside. Additionally, there was a visitor center near the wall with a map and information about the inscribed area.

Logistics: A car is necessary to reach the Turaif District in Al-Diriyyah. The impressive National Musuem of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh also has good historical background information.

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First published: 21/06/08.

Solivagant

Turaif Quarter

Turaif Quarter (Inscribed)

Turaif Quarter by Solivagant

Al-Diriyyah is the ancestral home of the Saudi royal family/clan and is situated a few miles from Riyadh. It was destroyed in 1818 when the Ottomans invaded Arabia. Even when the Saudi family regained control of the area it remained ruined - possibly due to the Wahhabite fear of idolatry of old things which has led to much of Saudi Arabia's tangible heritage being destroyed. (Ref Fatwa 16626, issued in 1994 by 'Abd al-'Aziz which reads in part: "It is not permitted to glorify buildings and historical sites. Such action would lead to "shirk" because people might think the places have spiritual value.") In fact the place is significant as the location where Wahhabism was "born". To quote Wiki "In 1744, Ibn Saud took in a fugitive religious scholar named Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, who hailed from the town of Al-Uyaynah, lying on the same wadi some 30 miles upstream. Ibn Saud agreed to implement Ibn Abdul Wahhab's religious views, and what later became known as the First Saudi State, with its capital at Diriyah, was born."

As elsewhere in Saudi Arabia, a completely new town has been built nearby and for the most part the ruins lay untouched. A restoration project had been started however by the time we visited in 2002 and some buildings showed the results in their pristine mud walls (photos). Nevertheless much of the site still consisted of ruins and contained some atmospheric alleyways and ruined houses. Our visit was …

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