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Mud-brick palaces of At-Turaif in Diriyah

A visitor's gazette · Saudi Arabia

Mud-brick on the wadi

At-Turaif is tamped earth, triangular openings, and evening light the colour of the bank.

Diriyah, الدرعية, sits on Wadi Hanifa west of Riyadh. At-Turaif, الطريف, is the citadel quarter of mud-brick palaces. UNESCO listed it in 2010 as the first capital of the Saudi dynasty. It is a historical site. It is not a leaflet for a new district.

Mud-brick palaces of At-Turaif in Diriyah
Mud-brick palaces in At-Turaif. The walls hold the day's heat and give it back after sunset.

Najdi walls

The architecture here is tamped earth, triangular openings, and courtyards that keep the sun off the floor. Watch the brick in late afternoon. The colour shifts with the wadi. That is the fact worth standing still for.

Courtyards and tamped-earth walls in At-Turaif, Diriyah
Courtyards in At-Turaif. Najdi building is thickness, shade, and a few small openings.

Riyadh is twenty minutes east on a modern road. Read the capital on its own page. Diriyah is older, lower, and quieter after the last tour group leaves.