Al Dirah (Riyadh)

Neighbourhood in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ad-Dirah

حي الديرة

Neighbourhood

Masmak Fort

Country|  Saudi Arabia
City| Riyadh
Region| Old Riyadh
Established| 1824
Founded by| Imam Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud
Government

• Body| Baladiyah al-Batha
Area

• Total| 166 ha (410 acres)
Language

• Official| Arabic

Al-Dirah (Arabic: الديرة, romanized: ad-Dīrah, lit. 'the abode'), pronounced as ad-Dirah and alternatively transliterated as Dheera, Deirah,[1] Deerah or Deera, is a neighborhood and a subject of Baladiyah al-Batha in southern Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, located south of al-Futah and west of al-Marqab.[2] Forming the kernel of the old city region enclosed within the former city walls, it is widely considered to be the antecedent to modern Riyadh since the metropolis outgrew as an offshoot of the walled town in the 1950s.[3][4]

Deerah is today a popular tourist attraction as it hosts several historical and traditional landmarks, such as the Justice Palace (Qasr al-Hukm),[5][6] al-Masmak Fort,[7] ad-Dirah Souk, Al-Mu'eiqilia market[8] and Deera Square. The origins of the neighborhood can be traced back to 1824 after successful reinstatement of the Second Saudi State by Imam Turki bin Abdullah al-Saud,[9] when he expelled the Ottoman-backed Egyptian forces.

## In popular culture[edit]

* Baby (2015), a fictional city in Saudi Arabia named Al Dera which hosts the Chop Chop Square.

## References[edit]

1. ^ Morgan, Francis. Vacation Goose Travel Guide Riyadh Saudi Arabia. Soffer Publishing.
2. ^ "الإدارة العامة للنظافة". archive.is. 2015-04-19. Archived from the original on 2015-04-19. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
3. ^ Bsheer, Rosie (2020-09-22). Archive Wars: The Politics of History in Saudi Arabia. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-1-5036-1258-7.
4. ^ التميمي, مهنا (30 May 2019). "#من_ذاكرة_السعودية.. بوابات الرياض القديمة: أسوار من الطين المجفَّف.. وأبراج حراسة دائرية تُغلق ليلاً". صحيفة سبق الالكترونية (in Arabic). Retrieved 2023-01-21.
5. ^ "A rare look inside the enormous 'Qasr Al Hukm' in Saudi Arabia". Al Arabiya English. 2015-10-15. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
6. ^ "القصور الملكية تحكي تاريخ العهود السعودية في رحلة البناء والتطوير". www.al-jazirah.com. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
7. ^ "Tourists throng urban heritage sites". Arab News. 2013-09-24. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
8. ^ "Riyadh city a jewel in the desert". Arab News. 2012-08-15. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
9. ^ Mohammed Abdullah Eben Saleh (October 2001). "The Changing Image of Arriyadh City: The Role of Socio-cultural and Religious Traditions in Image Transformation". Cities. 18 (5): 322. doi:10.1016/S0264-2751(01)00024-5.

This article needs additional or more specific categories. Please help out by adding categories to it so that it can be listed with similar articles. (July 2021)

|

This article about the geography of Saudi Arabia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template