Jeddah
Historic Jeddah, known as al-Balad, is the old town that grew around Jeddah's harbour after the caliph Uthman ibn Affan made it the port of Makkah in 26 AH…
Historic Jeddah, known as al-Balad, is the old town that grew around Jeddah's harbour after the caliph Uthman ibn Affan made it the port of Makkah in 26 AH (647). For centuries pilgrims arriving by sea landed here before setting out for Makkah, and the town was inscribed by UNESCO in 2014 as Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah. The town wall was taken down in the 1940s, but the old quarters keep their tall coral-stone houses with carved wooden rawashin, their souqs and their historic mosques. Nasseef House, Bab Makkah, Matbouli House, the Red Sea Museum and the mosques of al-Shafi'i, al-Mi'mar, Uthman ibn Affan and Akkash are listed separately, and the district has been under restoration in recent years.