Old Walled City of Shibam History, Travel Information, Facts And More
Old Walled City of Shibam
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PERSONAL INFORMATION
NAME
Old Walled City of Shibam
OTHER NAMES
Shibam Hadramawt
COUNTRY
Yemen
ADDRESS
Yemen
OLD WALLED CITY OF SHIBAM PICTURE
More Information
About Old Walled City of Shibam
The old Walled City of Shibam is a part of Shibam town in Yemen. The site is popular due to its high-rise buildings made with mudbrick. It is also called ?Chicago of the Desert? or "Manhattan of the Desert." The town is situated in the desert of Ramlat al-Sab'atayn. It also connects with the towns like Sana'a and other cities of western Yemen through its main road. It was designated as the World Heritage Site in the year 1982.
Some Lesser Known Facts About Old Walled City of Shibam
- The proof of the existence of life in the city is dated back to the third century. It was the capital of the Hadramawt Kingdom.
- The city was one of the three chief cities of the Qu'aiti Sultanate in the 20th century
- There are 16th-century houses made of mud bricks in the city. About 500 of these houses are tower blocks that are 5 to 11 story high. It is because of these houses in the city are famous as "the oldest skyscraper city in the world".
- Some of the houses in the city are over 30 meters high which are the tallest mud buildings throughout the world. Also, the city is surrounded by protected walls for the reason it is called the walled city of Shibam.
- The city received a flood from a tropical cyclone in the year 2008 caused a great threat to the mud buildings present in the city. Also, the site was subject to the Al Qaeda attack in 2009. The civil war of Yemen also destroyed some historical buildings For all the reasons, the site was included in the list of World Heritage Site in Danger since 2015.
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