AlUla Old Town

AlUla Old Town is a historic settlement in the centre of AlUla Governorate, and is one of the most prominent cultural and heritage destinations in the governorate [3][8]. The town preserves an urban fabric built of mud brick that includes hundreds of houses, markets and historic passageways, and it is enclosed by a citadel, a wall and gates [8][9].

The Old Town was selected among the Best Tourism Villages in the World for 2022, and AlUla Governorate hosted the World Tourism Organization ceremony honouring the winning villages for that year [1][2].

Lying at the heart of AlUla Governorate, the Old Town's sites are in harmony with the geography and oasis of AlUla [8][9]. It grew up near the old routes of trade caravans laden with incense, and became a main rest stop on the Hajj route from Damascus to Makkah [8].

Two archaeological excavation missions worked in AlUla before the establishment of the Royal Commission for AlUla: the King Saud University mission, which has excavated since 2004 at the sites of Al-Khuraybah (formerly Dadan) and Al-Mabiyat (formerly Qurh), and the Saudi-French mission, working since 2003 at the Hegra site in Mada'in Salih [5].

A maze of narrow alleys makes up the Old Town, which contains more than 900 mud-brick houses, 400 shops and 5 squares [9].

Its citadel was built to a height of up to 45 metres and served as the watchtower and defensive stronghold of the town wall, which had 14 gates [8].

Studies in the town revealed wall paintings bearing geometric motifs and images of everyday life such as mosques, houses and markets, and showed that the houses of AlUla Oasis were distinguished by elaborate decorations built by their residents [1].

At the heart of the Old Town stands the Tantora, a sundial built on a system based on the movement of the sun and shadow, which residents used across generations to determine the onset of the agricultural seasons, the start of the Murbi'aniyah and the four seasons [3].

The Tantora retains its place among the buildings, markets and historic passageways within the town's traditional urban fabric [3].

AlUla Old Town was selected among the Best Tourism Villages in the World for 2022, and the Royal Commission for AlUla announced the start of study and review of the artistic works in the town through study and restoration works with a team of experts, with the aim of revealing the town's details and architecture [1].

AlUla Governorate hosted the ceremony of the United Nations World Tourism Organization honouring the Best Tourism Villages in the World for 2022 on 12 and 13 March 2023, after the Old Town was selected among them [2].

The nominated villages were evaluated by an independent advisory board against nine areas covering cultural and natural resources, their promotion and preservation, economic, social and environmental sustainability, tourism development and value-chain integration, tourism management and prioritisation, infrastructure, and connectivity, health and safety [2].

The Royal Commission for AlUla was established in July 2017, and its board of directors has been chaired since its founding by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. It is responsible for the care and development of AlUla, and its strategy aligns with Saudi Vision 2030 [11].

AlUla Governorate is home to the History of Hegra site (Mada'in Salih), the first site in Saudi Arabia to be inscribed on the World Heritage List, after UNESCO approved its addition on 7 July 2008 during the annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee in the city of Quebec [4][6].

Hegra is the largest preserved Nabataean site south of Petra, and contains 111 monumental tombs, 94 of them decorated with ornamented façades dating from the first century BC through to the first century AD, in addition to about 50 pre-Nabataean inscriptions and cave drawings [6].

Saudi Arabia has eight sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, of which Hegra is one [7]. AlUla holds ancient inscriptions on its mountain faces in various scripts, including Nabataean, Lihyanite, Dadanitic, Thamudic and Minaean, alongside Arabic scripts and Islamic inscriptions [5].

Within the AlUla Oasis stood the ancient city of Dadan, capital of the kingdoms of Dadan and Lihyan. It was built during the ninth century BC from stones available in the oasis valley, and contains more than twelve tombs carved into the red rock slopes. It was a centre of agricultural and commercial activity owing to its proximity to the incense route [10].

Q: Where is AlUla Old Town located? A: It lies in the centre of AlUla Governorate, and is one of the most prominent cultural and heritage destinations in the governorate [3][8].

Q: What are the most prominent landmarks of the Old Town? A: Its landmarks include the citadel, which reaches a height of 45 metres, and the town wall, which had 14 gates, in addition to more than 900 mud-brick houses, 400 shops and 5 squares, and the Tantora sundial at the heart of the town [8][9][3].

Q: When was the Old Town selected among the Best Tourism Villages in the World? A: It was selected among the Best Tourism Villages in the World for 2022, and AlUla Governorate hosted the World Tourism Organization ceremony honouring the winning villages on 12 and 13 March 2023 [1][2].

Q: What is AlUla's connection to world heritage? A: The Hegra site (Mada'in Salih) lies in AlUla Governorate; it is the first site in the Kingdom to be inscribed on the World Heritage List, on 7 July 2008, and the Kingdom has eight sites on the list [4][6][7].

AlUla Old Town combines an urban fabric of mud brick, a citadel, a wall and gates, and the Tantora, alongside the Hegra site, the first World Heritage site in the Kingdom, while the Royal Commission for AlUla oversees the care and development of AlUla in line with Saudi Vision 2030 [8][9][4][11].

Related topics on the platform include AlUla Geography, within whose scope the Old Town falls, and Diriyah Gate and Hima Cultural Area, as heritage destinations published on the platform [9][7].