Al-Aziziyah, Jeddah — Area Guide & Where to Stay

What are the main landmarks in Al-Aziziyah?

The House of Islamic Arts Museum anchors the district. Its galleries gather Islamic art from across the Muslim world, and the museum stands as the reason most visitors make the trip inland from the coast of Jeddah to Al-Aziziyah rather than to the older quarter of Al-Balad. The collection draws steady crowds.

It gives the neighbourhood a cultural draw of its own within Saudi Arabia.

What is the history of Al-Aziziyah?

Al-Aziziyah belongs to the modern spread of Jeddah. As the city grew outward from the old harbour town of Al-Balad and away from the crowded shore of the Red Sea, districts like this one rose inland on ground that had once lain open beyond the walls. The old core stayed by the water.

This neighbourhood filled in later, part of the broad expansion that carried Jeddah far from its beginnings as a pilgrim port serving the road to Mecca.

Where is Al-Aziziyah?

Al-Aziziyah lies inland within Jeddah, set back from the Red Sea coast on the hot, low ground where the built-up city of Saudi Arabia stretches away from the water toward the desert interior.