Atelier
The Gallery Al-Bab and the Atelier are both found inside the gates of Bab al-Yaman. The Gallery Al-Bab also offers the chance to clamber up onto the walls of the Bab al-Yaman for memorable views.
Tourist Harbour
The Tourist Harbour and its pier is a colourful place for a stroll, especially early or late in the day when boats, which range from traditional sambuqs (local boats) to giant supertankers, are coming and going in greater numbers.
Gallery Al
Found inside the gates of Bab al-Yaman , this gallery displays and sells the works of local artists. Almost as much an attraction as the art itself is the chance the gallery offers to clamber up onto the walls of the Bab al-Yaman and take in the work of art that is the city.
Dar al Hayas a Sanania
This renovated old tower house is the newest museum in the city. It reveals something of the life and times of a traditional Sanaʻa home. The opening hours are very erratic but as the owner lives there you only need knock on the door if it’s closed to be allowed in.
Aden Minaret
Among the towns mosques that are worth a peek are the Al-Aidrus Mosque , built in the mid-19th century on top of 600-year-old ruins, and the strange little Aden Minaret , which is all that remains of a mosque built in the 8th century. Non-Muslims wont be allowed inside either.
National Handicrafts Training Center
The gallery is located on the 2nd floor of the National Handicrafts Training Center. This former samsarah (resting/storage house for merchants using the old incense trading routes) also houses a series of other shops selling silverware, woodwork, and semi-precious stones etc.
Mahram Bilqis
The kidney-shaped Mahram Bilquis (Temple of Bilqis/Awwam Temple) is believed to date from at least 800 BC and was dedicated to the sun god. Measuring 94m by 82m, its the largest of all the Sabaean temples. Remains include a 9m-high wall, a hall with columns and a row of eight, 12m-
National Art Centre
Housed in a traditional tower house, the art centre, north of the Great Mosque, is good not just for checking out the local art scene, but also for a spot of shopping. In addition to pieces by local artists there are lots of interesting photos of San’a taken in the 1920s and great
Great Mosque
Of the 50 mosques still standing in the old city, the Great Mosque north of Bab al-Yaman, is the most significant. For centuries it served as an important Islamic school and centre of learning, and attached to it is a library containing the largest and most famous collection of man
Military Museum
The Military Museum was closed at the time of research and seemed unlikely to ever open again, but its worth cruising past and checking just in case.
Husn Thilla
From town, an old and beautifully constructed stone staircase leads up to Husn Thilla. The fort remained unconquered by the Ottomans, and though the exterior is impressive, the interior is sadly devoid of life. There are memorable views, and inside the fort walls are tombs, cistern
Gold Mohur Club
If youre desperate for a dip – or a drink – the Gold Mohur Club , part of the Sheraton Gold Mohur Hotel, provides refreshment in both ways on a private but muddy beach. Admission buys you free use of the shower and changing facilities, as well as access to the hotels restaurants. Y
Queen Arwa Mosque
About 1.5km up from the taxi stand at the southern end of the village are the twin minarets of the 11th-century Queen Arwa Mosque. The guides who will greet you on arrival in town will happily take you into the mosque, but other worshippers seem decidedly less happy about the prese
Dar as
Near the As-Sunna Mosque is Arwa’s crumbling palace, which was rumoured to have had 365 rooms, one for every day of the year. Some people disagree with this statement, saying that a woman like Queen Arwa would never be so ostentatious as to have such a building, and that it must in
National Museum for Antiquities
The excellent National Museum for Antiquities has wonderful exhibits from the ancient Kingdoms of Yemen including marble and gypsum statues of humans that look like zombies brought back from the dead. Other highlights include exhibits from the early Islamic period.Upstairs on the 1
Sultan’s Palace
Originally built as a 19th-century defensive fort, the Sultan’s Palace was converted into a residential palace by the Sultan Al-Katheri in the 1920s. The sultan wasn’t a subtle man and his house, containing a mere 90 rooms, towers over Sayun like an exaggerated wedding cake. So pro
Old Ma’rib
Rising like a spectre from the surrounding landscape is the eerie silhouette of Old Ma’rib. Originally built long before the 1st millennium BC and sitting on foundations that are vastly more ancient, it suffered much damage from bombs during the 1962 civil war, but for the layperso
Aden Tanks
Believed to date from the 1st century, Aden Tanks were designed not just to collect precious water for the city, but also to remove water in times of flash flooding. A series of ingenious steps, arches and conduits channels the rainwater into a set of beautifully built cisterns. Th
‘Arsh Bilqis
Lying on the Safir road, the ancient and enigmatic ‘Arsh-Bilquis (Bilqis Palace/Bilqis Throne/Temple of the Moon) is the site of the famous five-and-a-half columns often seen in tourist brochures. Although linked to the legend of the Queen of Sheba, archaeologists now believe that
Great Ma’rib Dam
Lying 8km southwest of town is the extraordinary Great Ma’rib Dam, justly Yemen’s most famous monument. The dam is believed to date to at least the 8th century BC. It was periodically repaired; the last recorded time that major works were carried out was in the 6th century AD, afte
