Ibrahim Palace fit to enter UNESCO list, says expert

AL-AHSA: Saudi Arabia has a lot of unique sites that attract visitors and tourists from all over the world, and the Al-Ahsa Palace is qualified enough to enter UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites, Ali Al-Maghnam, former counselor in the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH), has said.

“There is an urgent need to increase investments in monuments and historic sites. The efforts should be made in cooperation with international experts to preserve the Saudi cultural and architectural heritage,” he said.
Al-Maghnam, a specialized academic who worked for many years with the Monuments Agency, said the SCTNH is drawing up strategic plans for the archaeological sites in the Kingdom so that they are included in the UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites.
“Besides, efforts are underway to get the Al-Ahsa Oasis registered in the UNESCO list, following the inclusion of a number of Saudi historic sites.”
Speaking on the most important sites in Al-Ahsa, he said that Ibrahim Palace, which is located in Al-Kout Quarter in Hafuf center, is qualified to join the World Heritage list as one of the archaeological sites eligible to become a key tourism destination in the Kingdom.
Al-Maghnam suggested that future investment projects include the establishment of a showroom to display the history of the palace and the details of Saudi architectural heritage.
“This, in addition to allocating a hall to view the history of personalities that contributed to the construction of the palace, and another hall to view the history of the first and second Saudi state.”
On the architectural elements of the palace, he said that Ibrahim Palace contains many historical monuments, most notably the Al-Quba Mosque, which has a single dome resting on top of the entire building, which is unique in Saudi Arabia and not known before.
Al-Maghnam said this palace has witnessed an important historical event.
King Abdulaziz had recaptured it with its storage of munitions and even arrested its Turkish soldiers on the first day when he recaptured Al-Ahsa from the Ottomans.
He said that the total area of the palace is 16,500 m2, and the construction has military and religious style architecture.