Shibam

Also known as the oldest skyscraper city in the world, the Manhattan of the Middle East, the Chicago of the desert, Old Walled City of Shibam

Shibam (), officially the Old Walled City of Shibam (), is a town in Wadi Hadhramaut in eastern Yemen with about 7,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Shibam District in the Hadhramaut Governorate. It is known for its mudbrick-made high-rise buildings, with some of the buildings reaching as high as 11 stories. The design centred around protecting the residents of the city from Bedouin attacks.

AI overview

Shibam is a historic town in eastern Yemen famous for its distinctive mudbrick skyscrapers, some reaching 11 stories high, which were originally designed to protect residents from Bedouin raids. With about 7,000 inhabitants today, this walled city represents a unique architectural achievement and serves as the administrative center of Shibam District.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Weather now

cached 4h ago

29°broken clouds

49% 1.6 m/s OpenWeatherMap

7-day forecast

via Open-Meteo

Place details

Locality: شبام
Region: محافظة حضرموت
Country: اليمن
Population: 7,000
Timezone: Asia/Aden

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Key facts

Settlement.name: Shibam
Settlement.official_name: Old Walled City of Shibam
Settlement.native_name_lang: ar
Settlement.nicknames: Manhattan of the Desert () Chicago of the Desert ()
Settlement.settlement_type: Town
Settlement.imagesize: 290px
Settlement.image_map: Map_of_Shibam.svg
Settlement.map_caption: Map of the city
Settlement.pushpin_map: Yemen#Middle East
Settlement.pushpin_label_position: bottom
Settlement.pushpin_map_caption: Location in Yemen
Settlement.pushpin_relief: 1
Settlement.subdivision_type: Country
Settlement.subdivision_type1: Governorate
Settlement.subdivision_name1: Hadhramaut
Settlement.subdivision_type2: District
Settlement.subdivision_name2: Shibam
Settlement.established_date3: 1167

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Official name: Shibam
Population: 13316
Elevation: 683
Image: مدينة شبام حضرموت.jpg

Show 4 more facts

Commons category: Shibam
native label: شبام
P12749: Dithmarschen
inception: 1600-00-00

Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

Travel guide

Get in

As of March 2024 there are weekly flights from Cairo to Seiyun which is relatively near (approximately 20 km) from Shibam.

See

thumb|200px|Walking between the high rises

Buy

The main streets of the city have a number of stores located in buildings. The stores sell some interesting souvenirs not found elsewhere in Yemen, particularly antique window frames and furniture. However, most of these are not real antiques but are new pieces, made to look old by the local craftsmen.

The main thing to buy is the original wooden Shibam locks and keys. These decorated pieces are actual keys that look similar to hairbrushes. The pins in the key are made to align with holes in the lock to unlock the door. These can be bought at most shops in the city.

The shopkeepers in Shibam are not prepared to bargain much. They insist that their prices are already low and that they do not intend to lower them by much. The traveller arriving from Sanaa, where the initial prices are usually exorbitant, may find this confusing at first.

Eat

There are no restaurants within Shibam.

Drink

A small cafe on the square at the entrance to the city serves tea. You can also smoke a water pipe or play dominoes. A lot of locals usually sit in this square, making it a great place to get the feel of the country.

Sleep

thumb|200px|The city is only home to 7000

Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)

~6 min read

Article

12 sections

Contents

History
Culture
Architecture
Threats
Geography
Climate
Influence
Gallery
See also
References
Sources
External links

The city was founded around the 3rd century and became the capital of the Kingdom of Hadhramaut in 300 AD. Its strategic location along ancient trade routes contributed to its prosperity. Shibam has been continuously inhabited for an estimated 1,700 years. In 1982, Shibam was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its unique architecture and cultural significance. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Manhattan of the Desert" () or "Chicago of the Desert" ().