On the southwest of the city of Al-Rass in Qassim Province is an unexpected architectural feature. On the top of a small hill where the desert starts stands the slender silhouette of a watchtower. This elegant 27 meter high mud-brick tower is a brilliant example of Qassim traditional architectural heritage, the Al-Shinanah Tower (to be pronounced Ash-Shinanah) that has been preserved till today.

If its function as a watchtower is verified, it is unclear when it was built. Dates ranging from the 12th to the early 19th century are proposed, which make this building at least 200 years old. If the earliest dates may look surprising for a place that was still so remote at the beginning of the 20th century they are in fact credible given the importance of Al-Rass as one the main permanent water points in the center of the Arabian Peninsula, along major trade and pilgrimage roads.

The strategical importance of Al-Rass in controlling the center of the Arabian Peninsula made it a regular battlefield between tribes, Ottomans and Arabs, and more recently in 1904 when King Abdulaziz’s forces expended their control of the Najd into Qassim Province.

How to visit Al-Shinanah Tower

​Tours organizing trips to Al-Shinanah Tower