Although old Shibam covers a very small area, it manages to pack over 500 dwellings into this confined space. The exterior of the buildings tends to be dull and featureless, but keep an eye open for the magnificent decorative doors and windows. Shibam is a silent and reserved place and in the mid-afternoon heat, when everyone else is safely tucked away indoors, it can feel a little like a museum or a library. It’s worth taking a late-evening stroll along the city walls , which date from the 17th century, and out into the fields of date palms. Other worthy sites include the Sultan’s Palace , built in AD 1220, and the various mosques (none of which are open to non-Muslims), including the Sheikh ar-Rashid Mosque (also known as the Al-Jami or Great Mosque), which dates from the 10th century. Next door to this mosque is the tiny Minbar Museum which contains a stunningly restored medieval minbar (pulpit) from next door’s mosque. At the souq next to the mosque, look out for the frankincense that has been sold here for centuries.
A bit of a tourist tradition used to be to climb the rocky hill above the ‘suburb’ of Sahil Shibam, opposite the town, to watch the sun fall behind the city.
