Rijal Almaa Heritage Village

• AreaAbout 45 km west of Abha
• Best forArchitecture, photography, mountain scenery
• Time2–3 h, plus the drive
• TicketsMuseum and village around SAR 20

On the western side of the Asir mountains, where the highlands of Abha tumble steeply towards the Red Sea coastal plain, a village of stone towers climbs a hillside in a narrow valley. Rijal Almaa was for centuries a trading stop between Yemen, the Hejaz and the Levant, and its merchants built tall fortified houses of dark stone, edged with white quartz and pierced by small windows painted in bright colours. Around sixty of these buildings survive, some of them seven or eight storeys high.

The village has been on UNESCO's Tentative List for World Heritage since 2015, and the colourful wall painting tradition of the region, Al-Qatt Al-Asiri, traditionally done by women, was added to UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage in 2017. You will see examples on the walls inside the houses.

What to see

• Rijal Almaa Heritage Museum: founded in 1985 by the villagers themselves inside Al-Alwan Palace, one of the largest towers. Its rooms hold over 2,000 objects: manuscripts, weapons, jewellery, clothing, farming tools and household items.
• Al-Qatt painted rooms: bold geometric patterns in red, yellow, green and blue on whitewashed walls.
• The village lanes: stepped paths between the towers, with views over the valley and its terraced fields.
• Viewpoints: the best overall view is from the road and the slope opposite the village, especially in the late afternoon light.

Tickets and opening hours

A ticket of around SAR 20 per adult usually covers the village and the museum, with children often free. The site generally opens through the day into the evening, but hours vary and can be shorter on Fridays and in Ramadan, so check before you go, for example on Visit Saudi. Labels in the museum are mostly in Arabic with some English.

Getting there

Rijal Almaa is about 45 km from Abha, but the direct route drops more than a thousand metres down the hairpin bends of the Souda escarpment road. It is spectacular but steep, and best driven slowly in low gear, in daylight and in dry weather. A longer, gentler alternative via the Dhila road adds around an hour. Plan on 1 to 1.5 hours each way. There is no public transport; hire a car, ideally from Abha airport, or join a tour. Our car hire guide explains what you need, and you can compare rentals on DiscoverCars.

When to go

Asir is Saudi Arabia's summer escape, and Abha is pleasantly cool from June to September, though this is also when it is busiest with domestic visitors. Rijal Almaa itself is comfortable for most of the year; winter brings clear skies and green valleys after rain. See our best time to visit guide for more.

Combine it with

Make a day of it with the cool heights of Al-Soudah on the way down, then dinner back in Abha. Guided day trips are listed on GetYourGuide. If you are interested in traditional architecture, compare these stone towers with the mudbrick of At-Turaif in Diriyah or AlUla Old Town, or explore the caves of Al-Qarah Mountain in the east. For a base, search Booking.com for hotels in Abha.

Frequently asked questions

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