Riyadh fun facts

A mud-brick capital on the World Heritage List

At-Turaif, in Diriyah, the 18th-century mud-brick capital of the first Saudi state, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2010 (whc.unesco.org).

A fort of 1865

The Masmak, in the old centre, is a clay and mud-brick fort built in 1865, now a museum (visitsaudi.com).

A record-breaking skywalk

The King Abdullah Financial District holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest continuous pedestrian skywalk network, climate-controlled and linking its buildings (kafd.sa).

Six lines at once

All six lines of the driverless Riyadh Metro, with 85 stations over 176 km, have been open since the Orange Line opened in January 2025 (Royal Commission for Riyadh City).

Coffee on UNESCO’s list

Arabic coffee, “a symbol of generosity”, and the traditional weaving of Al Sadu are on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as is Alardah Alnajdiyah, the Najdi dance of drums and poetry (ich.unesco.org).

A valley brought back to life

The restoration of Wadi Hanifah, the longest and most important valley near Riyadh, won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2010 (archnet.org).

The Kingdom’s first World Heritage Site

Hegra (Al-Hijr), near AlUla, with its Nabataean tombs cut into the rock, became Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 (whc.unesco.org).

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