Old Diriyah

Went to “old Diriyah” a few weeks back – quite an interesting sight. It is located on the west side of Riyadh in the “Wadi Hanifah”. The Wadi is the only area of natural greenery in the city, and as such is the location for many date farms and other agricultural activity. There is even an old dam – Al Elb dam – that assumedly blocked a river some decades ago, although there is no sign of water right now (picture below).

Diriyah itself was a fort that served as the home of the first Saudi dynasty from a few hundred years ago, built sometime in the 1400’s. From an architectural perspective it is rather fascinating as the buildings appear to be made of mud. This is a visual effect – the structure itself is composed of rocks with the outer wall covered by a mud mixture. The resulting wall looks a lot like a worn down stucco structure. Unfortunately the fort itself is closed to visitors for the next undefined amount of time as the city is renovating the buildings.

However, we did get some good pictures (see below).