Friday, December 4, 2020

THE GINGERBREAD VILLAGE of Rijal Almaa, Saudi Arabia

STARTS WITH W - WHITE ACCENTS & TRIM

The various regions of Saudi Arabia are rich in history and culture, and each one is known for their distinctive architectural styles. The historical village of Rijal Almaa is in the mountainous southern region of Asir and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its charming traditional gingerbread features built of clay, stone and wood.   

WINDOWS

The residents of Rijal Almaa actually refer to their homes as forts instead of houses.  The forts have been handed down within families through many generations.  The interiors of the forts feature the colorful geometric traditional Qatt artwork on the walls, which I have posted about in recent weeks.  

A FAVORITE - WONDROUS

The white outlined windows against the rugged brown stone pop even more with the brightly colored inner shutters.  This whimsical detailing adds even more to the charm of the gingerbread styling.  


I love the additional checkerboard detailing above the windows, as well as the triangular teeth accents.  Both of these details are made of smaller white quartz stones to form the patterns.  There is a lot going on but it all works so well together.  


LINKING TO - THE WEEKEND ROUNDUP

Thanks to my friend Piotr Chodakowski for allowing me the use of the photos in today's post.  You can follow Piotr on Instagram -  @piotr_ksa

5 comments:

Marie Smith said...

Such rich heritage and beauty. Thank you for sharing with us.

Tom said...

...I like the touches of color.

At Home In New Zealand said...

What a charming village. I love the colourful shutters and the patterns made by the quartz.

William Kendall said...

Fascinating architecture!

Jeannelle said...

Amazing and interesting!