If you are a fan of cultural tourism and a fan of standing on civilizations and previous kingdoms, whether through extinct ruins or palaces, forts and castles that still exist and perhaps a large number of them turned into museums and galleries to receive visitors with collectibles to introduce it to more cultural heritage, there is a group of Archaeological palaces in the Middle East Which you can visit during your trip to any one of the Arab countries in the region.
On this subject, we will touch on a number of countries that are distinguished by the presence of a large number of archaeological palaces in the Middle East, whether those that are very ancient and that date back to pre-BC, or those that go back to before Islam, or Umayyad royal palaces or Abbasid palaces and even modern palaces.
See also: Top 10 tourism destinations in the Middle East.
Egypt
Egypt has a large number of palaces that are well exploited in tourism. Among the most famous palaces that you can visit and still exist as museums displaying various holdings, Abdin Palace, which dates back to the year 1836 and the Mansery Palace in 1851 in addition to the Baron Empain Palace since the year 1911 and all in Cairo, while in Alexandria there is a palace of the Dragon Head dating back to its construction in 1834 .
The Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi fortress on the side of the Muhammad Ali Mosque includes a number of palaces, among them the Palace of Al-Jawhara, which was built in 1814 and has become a museum of Islamic heritage. As for the Al-Jazirah Palace, which is located in Zamalek, it is one of the Egyptian royal palaces that belong to the family of Muhammad Ali, and today it has become a hotel However, the palace dome, which is the largest palaces, will not be able to visit it unless you are in an official delegation, as it is intended for presidents and official events.
The Prince Bashtak Palace is also one of the unique examples of architecture and royal palaces for the Mamluk period, and it is located in Al-Moez Street, and the same is true of the Prince Taz Palace located in Old Cairo, and there is an abundant collection of modern palaces that were brilliantly engineered by Egyptian and European engineers, such as the Federal Palace and Palace Champollion, knives and others.
– Interested link: the best tourist offers to Egypt.
Saudi Arabia
In Medina, a wonderful destination that many overlook is represented in Wadi Al-Aqiq where there were the first Umayyad palaces such as the Palace of Saad bin Abi Waqas Palace Sakina Bint Al Hussein, but the Palace of Orwa is the only one that remained steadfast until it was recently restored to become one of the most important historical monuments in Medina. As for the modern royal palaces, we cannot limit them here.
Among the modern palaces is the historic Barzan Palace in the city of Hail in the north of the Kingdom, from which the rest of the two towers can be visited, which is a palace built around the year 1808 AD by Muhammad bin Abdul Mohsen Al Ali and witnessed the period of the rule of the Ali family and then the Rashid family, and in the city of Taif Palace The historical Shubra, which is one of the historical palaces that turned into museums, was established by Ali Abdullah bin Aoun Pasha in 1904 AD and turned into the Museum of Taif Governorate in 1995.
The Al-Hakam Palace is also an important historical and political palace in the history of the Kingdom, as it dates back to the beginning of the second Saudi state when the capital moved from Derayah to Riyadh, and from the historical royal palaces that you can visit Al-Murabaa Palace in Riyadh, and the Khuzam Palace in Jeddah that turned into a regional museum, and in Mecca, Al-Saqqaf Palace has been open to visitors since 2006, to take you to the world of Saudi royal palaces and their original architecture.
See also: The most important tourist attractions in Madain Saleh, Riyadh and Jeddah
Jordan
On your visit to Jordan there is no doubt that you will go to the Umayyad Palace in Amman at the top of a mountain for a castle, as it is one of the always recommended destinations, as the Ottomans also left a number of palaces such as the Qatraneh Palace and the Dabaa Palace between Amman and Aqaba, as well as the Hasa Castle, which is said to belong to the Tulunid state All of them have become shrines for amateurs to learn about Arab and Islamic architectural monuments and ancient palaces in the Middle East.
Among the Umayyad palaces that still exist as ancient ruins in the desert, the Harrana Palace is 65 km east of Amman towards Azraq. It was built in 710 during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid bin Abdul Malik, and there is also the Umrah Palace, which dates back to the year 715 AD, and the Al-Mashta Palace 32 kilometers southeast of the capital, Amman, which was built by the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid bin Yazid in 744 AD.
And if you are looking for antiquities older than that dating back to BC, Jordan is the ideal destination for that, especially on the King’s Highway where castles and fortresses, you can visit the Shabib Palace which dates back to 45 BC and the Hallabat Palace from the year 63 BC, as well as the palace of the slave or the palace Iraq al-Amir is the oldest, as it dates back to the second century BC and is located 35 kilometers west of Amman.
– Interested link: great offers and tours in Jordan.
Syria
Although the place is not suitable for travel and tourism in Syria in the current period due to the war, but the topic requires us to mention the masterpieces of ancient and Islamic architecture in the Levant, which includes many of the most important Umayyad palaces, such as the Eastern Hier Palace in the Syrian Badia east of the city of Sokhna, and was built by the Umayyad caliph Hisham bin Abdul Malik in the year 100 AH, then built a palace of Western Heer west of the ancient city of Palmyra around 107 AH.
Ibn Wardan Palace, also known as Deir al-Qobba, thanks to its design, is considered one of the most important ancient monuments that still exist and witnesses the urban superiority as it is located near the city of Hama. The most important palaces are reflected in the Girls ’Palace in the city of Raqqa, which is also called the Abbasids Palace.
The aforementioned palaces were ruins and relics, but there are still some well-preserved palaces, such as the Al-Azem Palace in the city of Hama, which is one of the most beautiful palaces built during the Ottoman period, and is used today as a museum of folklore for the region, and there is also another palace of the same name and is located In the capital, Damascus, next to the Great Umayyad Mosque, and the Damascene Palace, a wonderful example of advanced Islamic architecture, built in 1794 and today is a museum of historical and heritage collections.
Lebanon
Between the Baabda presidential palace and the Grand Serail Palace, which is an ancient Ottoman icon built during the nineteenth century, and the Beit Eddine Presidential Summer Palace (Prince Bashir Palace), which opens its doors to visitors at an annual art festival held in its courtyard, there is a group of beautiful palaces that proud of Lebanon, ranging from Among different historical eras, some of which today have been converted into museums that preserve the heritage and authenticity of Lebanon, which is culturally and culturally diverse.
The Sursock Museum is one of the well-known Lebanese archaeological palaces. It was built by Nicola Sursock in 1912 on the Achrafieh plateau in Beirut, and its owner donated it to become a museum of modern art. Today it includes a collection of valuable artifacts, antiques and Islamic artwork.
There are palaces that have turned into museums such as the historical Sidon Museum located in the Dibana Palace building, which was built in 1721, and Saray Baakline has become the Lebanese National Library building, which is a wonderful building from the palaces built by Noam Pasha, where traces of ancient Islamic architecture appear.
Iraq
You can my friend, a lover of the Abbasid civilization that was interested in architecture, whichever interest you can find the features of the Abbasid palaces in Iraq through the many ruins and extinct monuments or some of the few palaces that are still standing and witness to those centuries and the most famous of which is Al-Akhdar Palace, and to check more you can visit the museums to see the remains of these monuments More.
Among the Abbasid palaces that are still standing, the ruins of which can be visited are Al-Asheq Palace, which is located in the west of the city of Samarra and was built by the approved Abbasid Caliph before moving to Baghdad as a new capital, there is also a fishing palace located near Karbala and dates back to the year 164 AH, while the Palace of Bilkwara built by the Caliph Al-Mutawakel for his proud son, he is also located near the city of Samarra.
There are also other palaces built by the Caliph Al-Mansour, such as the Palace of Gold in the center of Baghdad, the new capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, and the Al-Khald Palace that he built behind the door of Khorasan, while Al-Ma’mun built the Rusafa Palace for the first time east of the Tigris River, in addition to the Palace of Isa bin Ali, the Palace of Waddah and the Palace of Firdaws and other Palaces that have become places to wait when safety prevails in the land of Iraq.
