Diriyah

Diriyah
Wordmark
Salwa Palace of At-Turaif District
Diriyah is located in Saudi Arabia
Diriyah
Location within Saudi Arabia
General information
Town or cityRiyadh Province
CountrySaudi Arabia
Coordinates24°44′00″N 46°34′32″E / 24.73333°N 46.57556°E / 24.73333; 46.57556
Website
Official Website
Official nameAt-Turaif District in ad-Dir'iyah
TypeCultural
Criteriaiv, v, vi
Designated2010 (34th session)
Reference no.1329
Regionthe Arab States

Diriyah[1] (Arabic: الدِرْعِيّة, ad-Dir‘īyah, approximate meaning ‘place of armor’[2]), formerly romanized as Dereyeh[3] and Dariyya,[4] is a town and governorate in Saudi Arabia. Located on the northwestern outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Diriyah was the original home of the Saudi royal family, and served as the capital of the Emirate of Diriyah under the first Saudi dynasty from 1727 to 1818.[5] Today, the town is the seat of the Diriyah Governorate, which also includes the villages of Uyayna, Jubayla, and Al-Ammariyyah, among others—and is part of Ar Riyad Province.

The Turaif district, the first capital of Saudis in Diriyah, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010.[6][7] The layout of the city itself can be studied in the National Museum of Saudi Arabia with the help of a large-scale detailed model of the city on display there. Diriyah also hosts the Diriyah ePrix race for the Formula E championship.

  1. ^ Properly Al-Dirʻiyyah following the Romanization of Arabic, but also written as "Al-Diriyah", "Ad-Diriyah", "Ad-Dir'iyah", "Ad-Dar'iyah", or "Dir'aiyah"
  2. ^ Hans Wehr (edited by J. Milton Cowan): A dictionary of modern written Arabic, ed. 3, Ithaca, N.Y., 1971, Spoken Language Services, Inc.
  3. ^ "Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878). "Dereyeh" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (9th ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 113.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference EoI was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Hubbard, Ben (May 31, 2015). "Saudis Turn Birthplace of Wahhabism Ideology Into Tourist Spot". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  6. ^ "At-Turaif District in ad-Dir'iyah". UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
  7. ^ "Turaif Quarter in Al-Diriyyah". Pictures, info and travel reports. World Heritage Site.