AlUla is a place of extraordinary human and natural heritage. We invite you to join us in a living museum of preserved tombs, sandstone outcrops, historic dwellings and monuments, both natural and human-made, that hold 200,000 years of largely unexplored human history.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long been a crossroads of ancient civilisations – a place of deep history, but one that is constantly evolving. AlUla is an extraordinary example of this and you can now help write the next pages of its history.
POINTS OF INTEREST
- HEGRA SAUDI ARABIA’S FIRST UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE
The Nabataean site of Hegra was the southern most capital of the Nabataean Kingdom, dating back to the first century BCE. Today, visitors can find more than 100 beautifully-preserved monumental tombs that remain, most with elaborate facades carved from rock formations that are scattered throughout this immense landscape
- OLD TOWN
More than 900 houses, 400 shops and 5 town squares. The AlUla Old Town holds thousands of stories from the 12th century through to the modern day. This was a key stop along the Islamic pilgrimage route from Damascus to Makkah. Travellers, traders and pilgrims would be met outside the town’s walls.
- JABAL IKMAH AND DADAN
Dadan, the capital of the Dadanite and Lihyanite Kingdoms was probably the most developed 1st millennium BCE cities of the Arabian Peninsula and, along with the “open library” of Jabal Ikmah, demonstrates how AlUla has been at the crossroads of trade and exchange for millennia.
- ALULA OASIS
This lush sanctuary in the windswept Saudi Arabian desert has provided life to AlUla residents, travelers, flora and fauna for thousands of years. Today, it is an agricultural epicentre, waiting to be explored.
- MARAYA
Maraya is a stunning piece of art set in the desert canyon of Ashar Valley. Designed to blend into the surrounding landscape, it rises from the sand like a mirage. The state-of-the-art structure is covered in 9,740 mirrored panels reflecting AlUla’s beauty, making it the largest mirrored building on the world, according to the Guinness World Records?
- ELEPHANT ROCK
Set in the golden desert sands and climbing three storeys into the Saudi Arabian sky is the awesinspiring “Elephant Rock”, one of AlUla’s many geological marvels.