PLACE OF INTEREST | WÂDÎ DHAHAR AND DÂRUL HAJAR

• Possibly, the most popular symbol of Yemen seen on posters and in magazines, is the palace of Imâm Yahyâ built on a huge bolder overlooking the ancient village of Wâdî Dhahar. 

• The ‘Stone Palace’ of Imâm Yahyâ was built about one and a half centuries ago and looks like it was carved right out of the tall stone column on which it is built. 

• So compared to most of the other sites in Yemen whose ages are over a millennium, this site is relatively young. But this structure, built atop a tall natural rock spire is nonetheless fantastical.

• It was built by an Islamic spiritual leader named Yahya Muhammad Hamiddin who could have built this castle atop a pre-existing structure that was built in the 1700s. The tall seven-storey castle was intended to be the leader’s summer home with 35 rooms, pantries and kitchens and which featured a number of facilities including appointment rooms for his highly appointed guests and separate spaces for cooling water in earthen jars. The rooms are built up the side of a tall rock column, culminating in a grand tower at its pinnacle.