Al-Turaif District


Al-Turaif is a historic district located in Al-Dir'iyah north-west of Riyadh which is regarded as one of the important political and historical sites in Saudi Arabia represented the capital of Saudi dynasty, it was the original home of the Saudi royal family and the country's first capital, from 1744 to 1818.

History

Al-Turaif District was founded in the 15th century bearing an architectural style of Najdi; this historical site was inscribed in UNESCO World Heritage List on July 31, 2010.
The various palaces in this area with an oasis and the Najdi architectural and decorative style was one of the UNESCO criteria to list the district as a World Heritage site. Moreover, The Al-Turaif District was the first historical center with a unifying power in the Arabian Peninsula. As in the mid-18th century, Al-Dir'iyah became the capital of an independent Arab State representing an important phase in the human settlement of the central Arabian peninsula.

Historic palaces and monuments Al-Turaif

there are some Historic palaces and monuments in Al-Turaif district include:
In Dec 2018, Saudi Arabia launched a restoration program for Al-Turaif historic district aimed at documenting the archaeological sites of the district and transforming it into an open museum.
The project comes as part of the Saudi's tourism plan that aims at increasing the Saudi local tourism and a part if the Saudi Vision 2030.
Atturaif Living Museum received the ‘National Winner’ status in the Social, Cultural and Heritage Project of the Year category at the 2020 MEED Project Awards.