Shibam Hadramaut

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Old Walled City Of Shibam (1982), On The List In Danger Since 2015. A 16th Century Walled Town Of About 500 Mud Brick Tower Houses, Some 30 M And Up To Eleven Storeys High, Rising From The Wadi Floor Like A Skyline Of The Desert. Called The Manhattan Of The Desert And The Oldest Vertical City In The World. Flood And Conflict Damage Are Ongoing · Shibam, Hadramaut

Shibam rises from the floor of Wadi Hadramaut in eastern Yemen, a walled desert town of about 500 mud-brick tower houses, some 30 m and up to eleven storeys high. Most were built in the 16th century, and the people rebuild and repair them after floods, so the skyline is a living craft, not a ruin, and families still live in the towers every day. The people are proud hosts. It is called the Manhattan of the desert, and UNESCO listed it in 1982. Nearby, Seiyun, about 35 km east, has the sultan's palace, and Tarim has many mosques and scholars. Wadi Doan has terraced honey villages. The wadi was damaged by floods in 2008 and again in the 2020s, and Shibam has been on the in-danger list since 2015. Hadramaut is outside Houthi control, but Al-Qaeda activity and instability affect the road from Aden and Mukalla, and flights to Seiyun have been intermittent. Most governments advise against all travel to Yemen.

Shibam town, in Wadi Hadramaut in eastern Yemen, about 500 km east of Sana'a and 35 km west of Seiyun, Shibam, Hadramaut, Yemen

The town has no gate fee and no fixed hours; its streets are open at all times and FREE to walk, though local residents live in the towers, so be quiet and respectful. Private tower houses are CLOSED to visitors unless an owner invites you. Shops and tea houses run from morning until evening and are CLOSED or very quiet on Fridays and during the midday heat. The sultan's palace in Seiyun, now a museum, has had limited and changing visiting days, so treat it as CLOSED until confirmed locally. Whether foreigners can reach the area at all is unknown and changing. Read your own government's advice first, then confirm with a licensed local agency.

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