Gallery
Description
Property Name: Rijal Almaa Heritage Village
Inventory No: –
Date of infill of the inventory form: 2020
Country (State party): Saudi Arabia
Province: Asir
Town: Rijal Alma
Geographic coordinates: N 2015840.65 E 211634.87
Historic Period: –
Year of Construction: Unknown
Style: Asiri
Original Use: Settlement
Current Use: Museum
Architect: Unknown
Significance
Its location between the two sides of a narrow valley led to this folkloric city becoming famous for its high buildings; the majority of those remaining were built of stone. Evidence indicates that it has existed for over 900 years. It lies about 40km away from the city of Abha. The ancient village of Rijal Alma’ is characterized by the richness and diversity of its history. A heritage village, 3 km from Rijal Al Ma`. Its urban block is integrated, and includes about (60) buildings in good condition, representing the prevailing architectural style in the region, and there is a heritage museum in it, and it is very suitable to be an integrated tourist village, with an area of about (3) km2.
Rijal village located in the Assir Region, and is the capital of the Rijal Almaa Province. The village was a natural corridor linking those coming from Yemen and the Levant to Makkah and Madinah which makes it an important regional commercial center. The village consists of about 60 palaces built from natural stone, clay and wood, and the palaces consists of several floors. The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities has adopted a rehabilitation project for the village with the participation of partners from the public and private sectors. The village contains a heritage museum established by the efforts of the local inhabitants in order to save their regional heritage, and they have turned one of the forts into the museum headquarters since 1985. The Village of Rijal Almaa is located 45 km west of the city of Abha, a mountainous area bordered to the east by Al-Souda Center, and from the North Mahayel Asir province, and from the South Al-Darb province, on the west by the Red Sea. In 2017, the village was awarded the prize of Prince Sultan bin Salman for Urban Heritage. The site is in tentative list of UNESCO.
Selection Criteria
i. to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius
ii. to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design
iii. to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared
vi. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance
State of Preservation
Rijal Almaa constructed their homes from solid stone, and mud and climbed with their homes until some reached three stories known to them as forts, and the remains of these buildings are still existing till this day.
References
Commission of Tourism and Heritage
UNESCO