The rebirth of old JEDDAH

As efforts to restore Al-Balad, Jeddah's historical district, take hold, we get an exclusive peek at how art and culture are taking centre stage

- Lyn Hughes

Al-Balad: Regenerating the past

Restoring Jeddah’s historic district offers not just a connection to another time for visitors, but a vital link for a local community that still considers it very much a part of the present

When I tipped my head to the side, I could almost hear the clop of camels' hooves on the cobblestones, their saddle bags bulging with cloves, pepper and ginger from the Far East; porcelain, jade and silk from China; and cardamon, cumin and turmeric from India, all unloaded from dhows that had sailed up the long barrel of the Red Sea. Some of them would have been led out into the desert by traders, others marched upstairs and into the kitchens of coral-stone mansions so tall that they carved the sky into thin blues lanes. Today, the dromedaries may have disappeared from the streets, but you can still buy spices in the souks, hear the call to prayer issuing from candle-like minarets and step inside the ancient homes of Al-Balad, Jeddah's UNESCO-listed Old Town.

Jeddah started life as a modest fishing village, but when the third Caliph, Uthman Ibn Affan, visited in 624 AD to swim in its waters and pray on its soil, he declared it the main entry port to Makkah (Mecca) and its fortunes changed almost overnight. Devotees travelling for Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca) flocked through the city walls - which were only torn down in 1947 - and the town became a major stopping point on the silk, spice, coffee and incense trade routes.