Riyadh

💡 About Riyadh

Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, is a city of superlatives rising from the heart of the Arabian desert — a booming, ultra-modern metropolis of gleaming skyscrapers, vast highways and grand development projects that reflect the immense wealth and soaring ambitions of the kingdom.

Once a walled mud-brick town in the desert, Riyadh has transformed within a single lifetime into one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. As the kingdom opens up to the world for the first time, it is investing staggering sums in entertainment, culture, sport and futuristic architecture, spearheading a dramatic national reinvention.

The city preserves its heritage amid the modernity. The restored mud-brick fortress of Masmak, where the modern Saudi state was born in a daring 1902 raid, and the atmospheric ruins of Diriyah, the original capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, tell the story of the kingdom's origins.

From soaring viewpoints like the Kingdom Centre's Sky Bridge to sprawling traditional souks and lavish modern malls, Riyadh is a city of dramatic contrasts. Ambitious, wealthy and rapidly changing, it offers a window into a nation in the midst of historic transformation.

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