Shubra Palace

The well-known Shubra Palace, built in the 1800s, is situated in the Saudi Arabian city of Taif. The Subhra Palace was built in an urban style and featured a unique fusion of Roman and Islamic architectural elements.

It was the royal family's summer residence, situated on Shubra Street, one of the busiest streets in the region. Its name is derived from another palace built in Cairo, Egypt. The building was initially built as a two-story house in 1858, but two more levels were later added during renovations in 1905. It served as the Ministry of Defense and Aviation's headquarters under King Faisal. In 1995, around 150 years after the palace's construction, a heritage museum was erected inside.

Highlights

• The palace stands out for its symmetrical architecture, which features four storeys, four uniform faces, and stone pillars separating each level. The palace's roof includes a wall with Roman architectural features, which adds to the building's magnificent aspect.
• Eight annex structures, including a photography studio, a library with thousands of volumes, and a lab for artifact preservation, are part of the palace and are utilized to display artifacts and local crafts in some cases.
• The columns, Rawasheen, arches, doorways, ceilings, and palace windows all display Islamic architectural traits. It has two enormous entrances—the main entrance and a side entrance—and approximately 150 rooms. A double marble staircase in the main hall leads to two wings with rooms of varied proportions.
• Several architectural and historical treasures can be found at the Shubra Palace. It includes ancient Islamic items from the early centuries, such as old swords, spears, shields, valuable stones, diamonds, silver, gold coins, iron locks, and cooking utensils.
• Explore the palace's stone and limestone facades and columns, or go up and down the double marble staircase to reach the 150 chambers spread throughout the two palace wings.
• Visit the museum inside the palace to view exhibits of historical artifacts from various Islamic centuries and antique coins, gemstones, seals, iron locks, and weapons such as swords, spears, and shields.
• In addition to other things, the museum has exhibits of artifacts and folk crafts, a photographic lab, and a library.
• The Shubra Palace, one of Taif's landmarks, showcases to visitors an architectural wonder and an essential historical location with a lush garden and trees all around.
• Its windows are wonderful with latticework, and its balconies are lovely with first-rate interiors. The magnificent ceilings, columns, entrances, and windows display Islamic architectural elements.