Monuments to visit Yemen

Dhar Al (, the palace of the Rock, the most famous monument of Yemen, is 15 km north of the town of Sana'a. It was built around 1930 by order of the Imam Yéhia who made it one of his summer residences. The imam was very jealous and as soon as one of his servants exceeded the age of 15, he was immediately returned. The-storey palace sits atop a rock overlooking the bottom of the wadi. The renovated interior (all walls are limed) includes rooms and mafraj of all sizes, secret passages, garde, a attic allowing for three months autonomy, a deep well of 130 m…

There are double qamareyas and stained glass windows with contrasting colours two to two, reflecting a third colour on the white walls of each room. The terraces offer a magnificent view of the orchards and qat of the wadi. The well in the palace feeds a small pond with a fountain, facing the large mafraj which is separated from the main building. This concept of a separate house of the house was introduced by the Ottomans in the th century.

Next to the palace is a small boutique of silver jewelry and traditional objects. Not far from the mosque is still a hammam in perfect condition. The village of the Wadi is charming, surrounded by old trees. The trail that crosses the hamlet leads to an interesting point of view on the back of the palace. A half-hour walk leads to the village of Al Gabel, which presents a beautiful sanaani architecture. There is an astonishing round nobla, with a square mafraj. There is a splendid panorama from the cliff overlooking the entire Wadi. On Friday morning, this cliff is the place where Yéménites De celebrate marriages: preceded by a group of doshan, arc battant drums, the groom and his male guests go into procession to dance the bara and make pétarader kalashnikovs and revolvers.

Located above the Ta, the location offers an amazing panorama of the city and it is a pleasure to spend a moment in its French gardens. Being placed against the ancient ramparts, it is easy to follow the ancient construction visually and to have a more concrete idea of the layout of the city and its old neighborhoods. The site is open to the public and is still under restoration, which is why it is not yet fully that. Note the presence of many couples in love walks, the place being indeed rather romantic.

It is a house whose decoration of the painted casing ceilings is particularly careful. Don't hesitate to ask to see their splendour, which will probably delight the master of the places.

Originally this fort, built in 1873 of clay bricks, was a military barracks before being completely overhauled in an Anglo-Indian colonial genus. It is 34 metres high and consists of 90 pieces. Today, he divides between a museum and a library. Access to the upper terrace is permitted. On the ground floor, a first room displays the archaeological parts of the Rayboun excavations. In the second part, lintels and carved wood are discovered, a mihrab of the Doan parka and funeral stelas. On the floor, a photo exhibition of 1930 shows the cities of Hadramawt and the first car introduced in that region by the Al Kaf family. A room is reserved for the Sultanat Sultanate. It shows bank notes and a stamped passport from the British protectorate. Later are jewellery, clothing, traditional crafts and medicinal plants. It also exposed the ornaments and emblems of the ancient Sultanates of Kathiria and Quayti. In front of the museum, there is a white dome under which Ba-Maqrama is buried, and a green dome that houses the tomb of Al-Ibsha.

14 meters high, measuring 766 m and contains 56 bastions. It was closed from two doors, one to the east and the other to the southern part of the wall. The inner surface is 7,25 hectares. The bottom part of this fortification is South Arabian times. It is constructed of long blocks of limestone, rendered, externally polished and piquetés in the centre. They are perfectly equipped without any mortar: they show solidarity with a system of dress and stiles which demonstrates the exceptional skill of the stone tailors and the masterpieces of the time.

Inscriptions (close to 300) are engraved on the outer face of the wall. The top of the wall, rebuilt in the Islamic period, is much less beautiful. The small mosque, tower and well, inside the site, are after the th century. The houses of this time are built with land and re-use.

It was used to calm the flow of waves during the rain seasons, and the water thus contained could irrigate the oases of the north and south, on a surface of nearly 10 000 hectares, by means of dispatchers, weirs and small dikes. We do not know the exact dating of the dam, but the downstream water capture and diversion systems show that, from the second millennium before our age, the South-Arab population approaches hydrology techniques. The south and north piers and their locks and overflows show to the visitor the perfection of the South Arabs in the art of capturing waters. The maintenance work of the dam required a large number of labour to remove sediment deposited in the bottom of the basin or to perform work on the building itself. It was in 542 that the last repair of the dam was carried out on the orders of the Ethiopian King Abraha, and then it was the final rupture, perhaps under catastrophic flood, or an earthquake, or more simply because of the lack of manpower.

The new dam, 2 km from the former, was completed in 1986. His funding was provided by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan of Abu Dhabi, whose ancestors lived near Marib. The book irrigates the fields and the citrus cultures around Marib, which settle the population. A long 760 m high, it can contain, the good years, 400 million m 3 of water. A memorial, to the right of the book, tells its story in sabéen and Arabic under the engraved faces of President Ali Abdallah Saleh and Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan. Siroua, the first capital of the Sheba'a Kingdom, cannot be visited for security reasons.

The style of the building is Indian influence. It was built by Omar ibn Awad Qaiti. On the ground floor of the archaeological objects and on the first floor the Indian furniture and invoice items belonged to the sultans, the most impressive being a rich throne in silver. The museum suffered damage during the war of 1994.

On the road to the airport, a peaks watch tower was built in 1884 to serve as the customs station of the Qaiti Sultanate. Its position, at the top of a rock overlooking the road, makes it all the attraction.

Created in 1972, it contains 14 000 books and manuscripts, many of which are very old. They are all listed in a file and classified by subjects in the cabinets: Koran, history, medicine, religion, etc. In showcases, the manuscripts of the H. The library is open in the morning. Note that the shoes must be removed to enter.

A former palace built in an overflow (or mud) and covered with a thick layer of lime that mixes Indonesian style and that of Hadramawt. In one of the rooms, in the form of panels, the various manufacturing processes for this typical architecture of Yemen are explained. The museum essentially presents a beautiful collection of objects, most of which are imported: a French rifle stamped Marseille 1874, old phones and Gramophone, old currencies and a philatelic collection. Also noted are ceramics of the region, jewellery and clothing. The man who hosts speaks French and is pleased to guide and answer questions: he loves his country and performs his function with passion. The other rooms highlight the parts of the palace that are more or less intact. See in particular that with the ceiling mirrors, really splendid. Finally, you will have a very interesting view of the city.