IN PICTURES: Al-Awja Palace: Royal ‘Majlis’ for kings, cradle of history

During the last few days, Saudi al-Awja Palace in historical Ad-Diriyah outside the kingdom’s capital Riyadh, was in the headlines as Saudi king Salman bin Abdulaziz received heads of states, turning it to a royal “Majlis” for meetings and decision making.

The name Al-Awja is affiliated with the historical location of Ad-Diriyah since the founding of the kingdom, as the name was first given to Ad-Diriyah due to its hilly terrain and landscapes formed by the Hanifa Grand Valley, which divides the historic Ad-Diriyah into two important parts: The Tarif neighborhood on the west side and Al-Bejiri. Along both sides the al-Awja famous palace was built.

In recent days, King Salman received many kings and presidents in al-Awja Palace, one of the most historic buildings of the region.

When touring the palace corridors and rooms, visitors can experience history through very rare images of the founding king, and some of the pieces that were used during the unification of the country, while the walls, ceilings and floors of the palace were traditionally decorated reflecting a sense of arabesque.

Researcher of the history of Riyadh and historian Rashid bin Mohammed bin Asaker said that: “The Palace of al-Awja is a retreat place for King Salman where he receives a number of presidents and kings, and it was built according to Saudi's Najd distinctive architecture.”

It is worth mentioning that Ad-Diriyah hosted the last few days the Formula E-Prix race – the first in the Middle East.