
Saudi man walking in front of the Al Masmak Fort in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
My trip through Saudi Arabia with Travelwings was a wonderful way of discovering things I didn’t know about Saudi Arabia and although I have been there so many times over the last 20 years, I cannot help be amazed by how much Saudi Arabia has changed since my first time here in 2001.
Our wonderful guide in Riyadh was very keen on showing us the past, the present and the future of the Kingdom and how much change the country has gone through in just 100 years. Al Masmak Fort in Riyadh is the perfect place to see this history. It was the site where the founder of Saudi, King Abdulaziz conquered and united all the provinces that make up Saudi Arabia.

Al Masmak Fort, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
I thought this post might benefit from a couple of extra images – the two exterior photographs of the fort and a close up of the fort’s gate. If you look closely at the gate, in the lower right (just next to the vertical wooden support) you can still see the tip of the spear left from when the spear was thrown towards the previous occupant of the fort, the Rasheedi governor Ajlan.

Gate detail, Al Masmak Fort, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia