Restoration for Historic Jeddah's Old Buildings Completed Under Crown Prince's Directives

The project came within the context of the Crown Prince's keenness to preserve and rehabilitate historical sites to achieve the Saudi Vision 2030 goals. SPA
The project came within the context of the Crown Prince's keenness to preserve and rehabilitate historical sites to achieve the Saudi Vision 2030 goals. SPA
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Restoration for Historic Jeddah's Old Buildings Completed Under Crown Prince's Directives

The project came within the context of the Crown Prince's keenness to preserve and rehabilitate historical sites to achieve the Saudi Vision 2030 goals. SPA
The project came within the context of the Crown Prince's keenness to preserve and rehabilitate historical sites to achieve the Saudi Vision 2030 goals. SPA

The Saudi Ministry of Culture, represented by the Jeddah Historic District Program, has announced the completion of work in the project to restore buildings in the Historic Jeddah District under the generous donation of SAR50 million from the Crown Prince.

The restoration project was in implementation of directives from Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

The project came within the context of the Crown Prince's keenness to preserve and rehabilitate historical sites to achieve the Saudi Vision 2030 goals, which seek to reflect the Arab and Islamic depth of the Kingdom.

The project aimed to highlight the heritage landmarks that the Historic Jeddah District is abundant in as a location having more than 600 heritage buildings, 36 historical mosques, and five main historical markets, in addition to ancient corridors and squares and sites with important historical connotations, such as the ancient Waterfront, which was a main route for pilgrims, and will be rebuilt to tell visitors the great story of the Hajj since the dawn of Islam.

The Crown Prince has directed the implementation of the project to strengthen and rescue historic Jeddah buildings by five specialized Saudi companies, which carried out the work and conducted studies under the supervision of technicians with experience in historical buildings.

The implementation was carried out according to the unique design and distinctive urban structure of the Historic Jeddah District and its unique architectural elements, as some buildings, which belong to Jeddah families, have archaeological landmarks dating back 500 years.



UN Puts 4th Century Gaza Monastery on Endangered Site List

The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
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UN Puts 4th Century Gaza Monastery on Endangered Site List

The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File

The Saint Hilarion complex, one of the oldest monasteries in the Middle East, has been put on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites in danger due to the war in Gaza, the body said Friday.
UNESCO said the site, which dates back to the fourth century, had been put on the endangered list at the demand of Palestinian authorities and cited the "imminent threats" it faced.
"It's the only recourse to protect the site from destruction in the current context," Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, told AFP, referring to the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.
In December, the UNESCO Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict decided to grant "provisional enhanced protection" -- the highest level of immunity established by the 1954 Hague Convention -- to the site.
UNESCO had then said it was "already concerned about the state of conservation of sites, before October 7, due to the lack of adequate policies to protect heritage and culture" in Gaza.
The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 39,175 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.