Places from Yemen

Today Yemen notes are continuing with places from Yemen. I first landed to capital city Sanaa. I remember I was anxious but did not know what to expect but definitely I was not expecting to see the beautifully decorated houses in the old part of the city..

A fascinating place near Sanaa was the residence of İmam Yahya in Wadi Dhar. Yemen ruled by İmams after Ottomans left the country in 1919. Their rule lasted until 1962.

Style of the houses are very much defined by the geography of the country. In higher areas, stone is the main component in buildings.

However as you go to lower areas, people utized what they have for centuries: mud. Houses made with mud bricks . Valley of Hadramut

Deserted city of Magrib

It's not only the houses. Palaces were build out of mud bricks as well. The most famous one is the Palace in the city of Seyun, the biggest mud palace in the world.

Another city in the Valley of Hadramut famous with mud palaces is Tarim. There are more than 30 palaces in this city, majority of them once belong to famous merchants family of Al Kaf. Palaces were nationalized during 1970-1971 when Yemen Democratic Peoples Republic was founded. They were all deserted and were rather in a sad situation during my visit..Neglect of time and people were everywhere..

So did I stay in a mud building. Well, of course. I stayed in a lovely hotel in the city of Seyun. It was the 5 star Hawta Palace Hotel. Beautiful traditional building. It was like a jewel in the desert..