Shibam is an Old Walled city in Hadramaut District, Yemen.
Shibam is famous for its incomparable architecture, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. All residential buildings in Shibam are built of clay bricks. About 500 of them can be considered multi-story (for the time they were built), as they have 5-11 stories, each story representing a separate dwelling occupied by a separate family.
Shibam is often called “the oldest city of skyscrapers in the world” or “the Manhattan of the desert”. It is the oldest example of urban planning based on the principle of vertical construction. Shibam is home to the tallest mud buildings in the world, some of which are 30 m or more.
Access : Coordinates: 15.926944, 48.626667
Highlights :
- The oldest houses date back to the 16th century although the site has been inhabited for over 2,000 years.Due to these characteristics, Shibam is also called the oldest skyscraper city in the world.
- This urban ensemble was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982.
- Shibam is one of the visiting cards of Yemen. German journalist Hans Helfritz, who traveled to Yemen in the 30s of the last century, called Shibam and its surroundings “the city of skyscrapers” or “the Manhattan of the desert”.
Go next : Seiyun ,a city in the region and Governorate of Hadhramaut in Yemen / Tarim , a historic town situated in Wadi Hadhramaut / Sena, officially known as Sana, an ancient abandoned town in Yemen located in the remote eastern Hadramaut valley.
