Fort Masmak

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Fort Masmak

The Masmak Fort ( Arabic قصر المصمك, DMG Qaṣr al-Maṣmak ) is a fortress in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh , which played a special role in the history of the country.

history

The fort was built around 1865 in the main town of the Al Saud Arab tribe . The Al Saud were so weakened by internal disputes that in the following years they came under the suzerainty of the Al Rashid from Ha'il , who built their own empire north of Riyadh and subjugated the interior of the Arabian Peninsula. In 1891 they drove the Al Saud out of Riyadh, who went into exile in Kuwait .

In January 1902, the young Emir Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud managed to overrun the Masmak Fort and take possession of the city of Riyadh in a single coup with seven faithful. This raid on the fort at the center of the city's trading activities and the seizure of the Al Saud territory, ancestral since 1824, marked the beginning of the conquest of the entire territory of what is now Saudi Arabia, which was not completed until 1932 with the conquest of the Asir .

Building

Fort Masmak was built on a stone foundation made of clay-plastered mud bricks in the center of today's old town of Riyadh. There are watchtowers on each corner of the square made of thick walls. The only access to the fortress is a gate made of palm trunks, 3.65 meters high and 2.65 meters wide. In the middle of the gate there is a door that is just wide enough that only one person could get in or out of the fortress at a time.

Inside the fort there is also a mosque and a fountain. The ceilings of the interiors are made of painted palm trunks. The connecting doors in the labyrinthine layout of the courtyards and rooms are also painted.

use

Fort Masmak was used as the kingdom's seat of government from 1902 to 1938. Only then was a new palace, the Murabba Palace , north of Old Riyadh completed. Both structures now serve as museums and are among other buildings part of the King Abdulaziz Historical Center of Riyadh.

photos

  • Place in front of the fort, 2011.

  • Inside, 2009.

  • Inside, 2009.

  • Facade, 2014.

  • Night lighting, 2008.

Web links

Commons : Masmak fort  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jonathan M. Bloom, Sheila Blair: The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture: Delhi to Mosque . Oxford University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-19-530991-1 , p. 152.
  2. ↑ Abdalaziz, the Conqueror. Fort Masmak and the unification of Arabia in FAZ from September 24, 2005

Coordinates: 24 ° 37 ′ 52 ″  N , 46 ° 42 ′ 48 ″  E