The city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia is the second largest in the kingdom, as well as its commercial and financial center. In addition, Jeddah is the largest city in the province of Mecca.
Saudi Arabia. Jeddah
Photos of the largest city in the Arabian kingdom are striking with the luxury of skyscrapers directed upwards and the dynamism of life there. And international studies confirm this impression. In the ranking of world global cities, according to the international classification, the city belongs to the gamma group, which puts it on the same level of importance with cities such as Bangkok and Hanoi.
In the city, ancient history is intertwined with dynamic modernity and ambitions aimed at a technological future. Local authorities, which, of course, are closely connected with the royal family, intend to turn Jeddah into the center of a modern high-tech economy.
It is worth noting that the city authorities have reason to look to the future with optimism, because Jeddah is an important economic center of south-west Asia. One after another, the dynasties of Islamic Caliphs brought the city more prosperity, making it an important center on the way from India to Europe.
Jeddah story
Throughout its history, Saudi Arabia has been a rather closed country, zealously guarding shrines that are important for Muslims, which means that Europeans were not easy to communicate with the Arabian rulers.
The city’s first clash with European mariners occurred in 1517, when a Portuguese expedition shelled port fortifications and destroyed several Muslim ships in the Red Sea.
For five centuries, the city was ruled by Arab tribes, until in the early sixteenth century the Ottoman troops captured it, which significantly rebuilt and strengthened the city walls. And the whole country was transformed into a Hijaz province.
Jeddah was under Turkish rule until 1916. Taking advantage of the approaching defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the war, the local elites proclaimed the independence of the province, which in 1926 was transformed into a new state - Saudi Arabia.
City culture
Like other cities in Arabia, Shariah laws are in force in Jeddah, implying criminal liability for violating moral and ethical standards of Islam.
Despite the fact that the public practice of other religions and the construction of religious buildings, in addition to mosques, are not allowed, in private life foreigners can send a cult at their own discretion. Since the overwhelming majority of local residents and foreign workers living in Jeddah are Muslims, there are 1300 mosques in the city.
However, the city pays great attention to modern culture in such a manifestation as contemporary art. But Islam is also influencing this sphere of human life, since the ban on the depiction of people affects the appearance of sculptures. Jeddah in Saudi Arabia is considered the city in which you can find the largest number of sculptures in the open air and the largest collection of public art in the country.
History and Modernity
The historic city center, consisting of low-rise merchant houses, is gradually giving way to high-tech high-rise buildings, but still remains an important element of national identity for local residents.
The state program for the construction of modern ethnographic museums in the country also contributes to the growth of national identity. In the photo of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, you can see the beautiful building of the ethnographic museum, the exposition of which tells about the history of the Nejaz region and the entire Arab people.
National identity is especially important for this region, since it is Jeddah that takes on the burden associated with the reception of millions of pilgrims from all over the world traveling to Mecca and Medina.