Urban landscape, Arabic / Middle Eastern
Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad
The Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad is an archeological site, which holds the first capital of the Hammadid empire.
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Aleppo
Aleppo is one of the oldest inhabited cities in history. It knew human settlement since the eleventh millennium B.
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Bukhara
The Historic Centre of Bukhara is the most complete and unspoiled example of a medieval central Asian town, which urban layout and buildings have had great influence on town planning in Central Asia.
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Byblos
Byblos is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal. It is believed to have been founded around 5000 BC.
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Damascus
Damascus is often referred to as the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.
Damascus has a wealth of historical sites dating back to many different periods of the city's history.
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Harar
Harar is a fortified historic town in southeastern Ethiopia. It has been a major commercial center, linking African and Islamic trade routes.
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Historic Cairo
Historic Cairo encompasses Coptic Cairo and its many old churches and ruins of Roman fortifications.
Cairo was founded in AD 969 as the royal enclosure for the Fatimid caliphs.
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Incense Route of the Negev
The Incense Route and Desert Cities of the Negev reflects the hugely profitable trade in frankincense and myrrh.
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Kairouan
Kairouan is a holy city for many Muslims, and many Sunni Muslims consider it the fourth holiest city of Islam, after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, and the holiest city of the Maghreb.
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Kasbah of Algiers
The Kasbah of Algiers was founded on the ruins of old Icosium, a Phoenician commercial outpost called which later developed into a small Roman town.
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M'Zab Valley
The M'Zab Valley is a region of the northern Sahara that holds five traditional fortified villages (ksour).
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Medina of Essaouira
The Medina of Essaouira (formerly "Mogador") is a UNESCO World Heritage Listed city, as an example of a late 18th century fortified town, as transferred to North Africa.
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Medina of Fez
Fes is one of the four so-called "imperial cities" (the others are Marrakech, Meknes and Rabat). It is separated into three parts, Fes el Bali (the old, walled city), Fes-Jdid (new Fes, home of the Mellah), and the Ville Nouvelle (the French-created, newest section of Fes).
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Medina of Marrakesh
Marrakech has the largest traditional market (souk) in Morocco and also has the busiest square in the entire continent of Africa, called Djemaa el Fna.
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Medina of Sousse
Sousse is considered one of the best examples of seaward-facing fortifications built by the Arabs. Its ribat, a soaring structure that combined the purposes of a minaret and a watch tower, is in outstanding condition and draws visitors from around the world.
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Medina of Tétouan
The medina of Tétouan was rebuilt by the end of the 15th century by refugees from the Reconquista (reconquest of Spain, completed by the fall of Granada in 1492), when the Andalusian Moors first reared the walls and then filled the enclosure with houses.
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Medina of Tunis
The Medina contains some 700 monuments, including palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains dating from the Almohad and the Hafsid periods.
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Meknes
The land upon which the city of Meknes is founded and much of its surrounding territory came under the domination of the Roman Empire in 117 A.
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Safranbolu
The City of Safranbolu is an example of a typical Ottoman trade town.
It has played a key role in the caravan trade on the main route between Europe and the Orient.
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Samarkand
Samarkand - Crossroads of Cultures
lies in a large oasis in north-eastern Uzbekistan, and has been the center of great trade routes (like the Silk Roads).
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Shakhrisyabz
The Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz contains fine monuments from the Timurid period (15th century).
Notable monuments include:
- Aq-Saray Palace (Timur's Summer Palace)
- Kok Gumbaz Mosque / Dorut Tilyovat (Dorut Tilavat) Complex
- Hazrat-i Imam Complex (mausoleum and mosque)
- Tomb of Timur
- The Chor-su bazaar and the baths
Shakrisabz may be compared to Samarkand and Herat, other capitals of the Timurid empire.
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Zabid
The historic town or medina of Zabid is renowned for its domestic architecture and its Islamic university attracting students from far.
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