The old market
Shops with wooden doors.
Prof. Mortel — CC BY 2.0 · Prof. Mortel — CC BY 2.0 · Prof. Mortel — CC BY 2.0 · Prof. Mortel — CC BY 2.0 · Prof. Mortel — CC BY 2.0 · Prof. Mortel — CC BY 2.0 · Prof. Mortel — CC BY 2.0 · Prof. Mortel — CC BY 2.0
An old farming valley inland from Yanbu, lined with villages and running from the Red Sea coast about 50 kilometres east. It once had 360 flowing springs spread over more than ten kilometres, of which 11 still run. With its plentiful water and farms, the valley was long a centre of trade and agriculture, and its villages were stations on the trade routes to the Levant and Egypt before Islam, and later on the pilgrim roads. Many of its springs are named after companions of the Prophet, among them the spring of Ali. Today's visitors come for the ruins of old mud-brick villages on the hills among palm groves, an old market with dusty lanes lined by shops with wooden doors, an old mosque, and water channels running between the fields. Wandering is free. The mud buildings are fragile, so don't climb on them. The site is open and hot, so winter mornings are best, with water and a hat.
Shops with wooden doors.
Ruins on the hills.
Channels between fields.
About 45 km north-east of Yanbu
Ruined mud-brick villages, the old market with its wooden shopfronts, an old mosque, and springs among palm groves.