Murabba Palace

Murabba Palace is a historic palace in the city of Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud took as his residence and as a centre for administering the affairs of governance and conducting the business of the state alongside Qasr al-Hukm. [1]

The palace stands in Riyadh outside the walls of the old city, and it was built in the phase of constructing the modern Saudi state after the unification of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; today it is one of the components of the King Abdulaziz Historical Centre. [1][5]

In 1355 AH, King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud directed that work begin on a complex of palaces within a single wall outside Riyadh, known as the Murabba Palaces, one of whose wings holds the diwan of King Abdulaziz, known as Murabba Palace. The cramped space of the old city of Riyadh, enclosed by walls with five gates, could not absorb the urban and population growth, and this was the impetus for choosing a site beyond those walls. [1]

The construction of the Murabba Palaces was completed in 1357 AH, and King Abdulaziz moved with his family into Murabba Palace in the same year, 1357 AH, corresponding to 1938 CE. [1][5]

The Murabba Palaces were built on land called Murabba Al Sufyan, level and fertile ground sown in the rainy seasons, about two kilometres from the old city of Riyadh. It is bordered by the Fouta and Houta orchards to the south, Wadi Al-Batha to the east, Wadi Abu Rufai' to the west, and low hills to the north. [1]

Murabba Palace covers an area of 1,680 square metres. [2]

The building relied on local materials, namely mud brick, local stone, tamarisk trunks and palm fronds. The walls of the palace were raised from clay mud brick mixed with straw mortar dried in the sun, its foundations were laid with local stone on circular stone columns fixed with gypsum, and its roofs were made of tamarisk wood and palm fronds. [1][2]

The palace consists of two floors built in the traditional manner, with a central courtyard onto which all the rooms open, and simplicity is its defining quality, for it was free of lavish ornamentation except for simple triangular forms that decorated its outer walls. [2]

The ground floor, laid out in a square, contains the rooms of the Royal Guard, a food store, a room for preparing coffee, a firewood store, a store for coffee utensils, a room for the servants, the office of the head of the Special Royal Guard, and the rooms of the khawiyya. The first floor comprises the official summer majlis of King Abdulaziz and the winter majlis, a courtyard for his guests and advisers, the office of the Political Department, a passage leading to the congregational mosque, the office for petitions and complaints, the office of the head of the King's scribes, and the telegraph office. [3]

Murabba Palace witnessed royal decisions and major events in the course of building the state, among them the establishment of the Ministry of Defence, Saudi Broadcasting, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, the issuance of Saudi currency, the formal schools, the construction of the railway between Riyadh and Dammam, and the emergence of oil in commercial quantities. [1]

Several regulations were issued from the palace, among them the telegraph regulations, the roads and buildings regulations, the retirement regulations, the labour and workers regulations, the regulations of the chambers of commerce, and the passport regulations. The diwan of King Abdulaziz at the palace also hosted agreements concluded between him and a number of kings and presidents of the world, alongside historic royal decisions of the Kingdom. [1][4]

The King Abdulaziz Foundation connected Murabba Palace to the King Abdulaziz Memorial Hall, a core element of the Foundation devoted to the history of King Abdulaziz, his relics, his personal belongings and landmarks of his private and public life. More than 1,700 books are held in the King Abdulaziz Private Library at the palace. [3]

Established in 1419 AH in the surroundings of the Murabba Palaces, the King Abdulaziz Historical Centre was entrusted with the landmarks of the city's historical, urban and cultural heritage. A visual presentation on the restoration of the historic Murabba Palace was prepared within the King Abdulaziz Foundation's exhibition on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the opening of the Centre. [5][6]

In the Al-Murabba district, King Abdulaziz ordered the construction of the Red Palace in 1362 AH for his son King Saud bin Abdulaziz while he was Crown Prince, and its construction was completed in 1364 AH. [5]

Q: What is Murabba Palace? A: It is a historic palace in the city of Riyadh that King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud took as his residence and as a centre for administering the affairs of governance and conducting the business of the state alongside Qasr al-Hukm.

Q: When was Murabba Palace built and when did King Abdulaziz move into it? A: King Abdulaziz directed that work begin on the Murabba Palaces in 1355 AH, their construction was completed in 1357 AH, and he moved into them with his family in the same year, 1357 AH, corresponding to 1938 CE.

Q: Where is Murabba Palace located? A: It is in the city of Riyadh, on land called Murabba Al Sufyan outside the walls of the old city, about two kilometres from it.

Q: What materials was the palace built from? A: Mud brick mixed with straw mortar, local stone, tamarisk trunks and palm fronds.

Q: What does the first floor of Murabba Palace contain? A: The official summer majlis of King Abdulaziz and the winter majlis, a courtyard for his guests and advisers, the office of the Political Department, a passage leading to the congregational mosque, the office for petitions and complaints, the office of the head of the King's scribes, and the telegraph office.