The Dar al-Hadjar (“The Stone House” or “Palace on the Rock”) is a palace located in the valley of Wadi Dhar near Sanaa, capital of Yemen.
The palace, erected on a rock 50 m high, was built in the 1920s. With its raw brick tower house, whose facades are animated by geometric friezes in whitewash, it is a very remarkable representation of Yemeni architecture.Entering the palace by turning around the rock on which the reservation house is located, from which it derives its name, draws the visitors’ attention to the corridors carved from the rock and the ladder of the palace in its beginning carved on the rock.
The Dar al-Hadjar It is built in the Yemeni architectural style and is considered one of the most important and prominent historical landmarks of Yemen,The palace is now a museum site that can be visited free of charge by tourists.
Access : Coordinates: 15.441012, 44.125255 / The Dar al-Hadjar located in Wadi Dhar, about 15 km from Sanaa in Yemen.
Highlights :
- In 1786, the King of Yemen, Imam al-Mansour Ali ibn al-Abbas, ordered his minister, Ali ibn Saleh al-Amari (1736-1798), who was famous for architecture, astronomy, poetry and literature, to build a building in Wadi Zuhr to be his summer palace.
- In 1974, Pier Paolo Pasolini used the palace as the home of Princess Dunya in his film The Arabian Nights.
- In addition to the offensive and defensive places that can defend against the enemy and shoot outside, the building also has a water source for private use.
- At its gate there is a perennial tree (Taluqa), whose age is estimated at 700 years.
Go next : Wadi Zahr and several historic forts: Jabal Fiddah, the fort of Ṭaybah, and The fortress of Munif.