Ajyad Fortress
Encyclopedia
The Ajyad Fortress was an Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 fort built in Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...

, in what is now Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

, in the late 18th century. It was destroyed by the Saudi
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

 government in 2002 for commercial development, sparking global outcry.

History

In 1781 (or 1777 or 1780, according to some sources), the fortress was built in order to protect the Kaaba
Kaaba
The Kaaba is a cuboid-shaped building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam. The Qur'an states that the Kaaba was constructed by Abraham, or Ibraheem, in Arabic, and his son Ishmael, or Ismaeel, as said in Arabic, after he had settled in Arabia. The building has a mosque...

 and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic shrines in Mecca from invaders. The fort covered some 23000 m² (27,507.8 sq yd) on Bulbul Mountain (a spur
Spur (mountain)
A spur is a subsidiary summit of a hill or mountain. By definition, spurs have low topographic prominence, as they are lower than their parent summit and are closely connected to them on the same ridgeline...

 of Jebel Kuda) overlooking the Masjid al-Haram
Masjid al-Haram
Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām is the largest mosque in the world. Located in the city of Mecca, it surrounds the Kaaba, the place which Muslims worldwide turn towards while performing daily prayers and is Islam's holiest place...

 from the south.

Ajyad Fortress was demolished and most of Bulbul Mountain levelled by the Saudi government in 2002 to make space for the $533 million construction project Abraj Al Bait Towers
Abraj Al Bait Towers
The Abraj Al-Bait Towers, also known as the Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower, is a building complex in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The complex holds several world records, including the tallest hotel in the world, the tallest clock tower in the world, the world's largest clock face, and the world's largest...

. The 11 high-rise towers will consist of apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...

s, a twin-tower five-star hotel, restaurants, and a shopping centre, all to be built by the Saudi Binladin Group.

Reactions

The destruction of the historic structure stirred both domestic and international protest. The Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 Foreign Minister İsmail Cem İpekçi and other institutions tried to prevent the demolition. The Turkish Democratic Left Party
Democratic Left Party (Turkey)
The Democratic Left Party is a Turkish political party founded on November 14, 1985, by Rahşan Ecevit.-1985-1999:The DSP, a social democratic oriented party, was registered on November 14, 1985 by Rahşan Ecevit, wife of Bülent Ecevit, as he was banned from political life after the 1980 coup...

 (DSP) Deputy Ertuğrul Kumcuoğlu even suggested a boycott on travelling to Saudi Arabia. The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism
Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Turkey)
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is a government ministry office of the Republic of Turkey, responsible for culture and tourism affairs in Turkey. As of 2008, it is headed by Ertuğrul Günay.- External links :***...

 condemned the obliteration of the fortress, comparing the act to the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan
Buddhas of Bamyan
The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2,500 meters...

, and accusing the Saudi authorities of "continuing with their policy of demolishing Ottoman heritages."

The French news agency Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...

 (AFP) quoted Saudi Islamic affairs Minister Saleh al-Shaikh as saying "no-one has the right to interfere in what comes under the state's authority". In reference to the housing component of the plan, al-Sheikh added that it was intended to house pilgrims to Mecca
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...

, and said "this is in the interest of Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s all over the world".

However, the destruction of this and other historic sites fuelled criticism of the Saudis, plans were made to rebuild the castle, as ordered by the King in 2001:
A 1/25 scale model
Scale model
A scale model is a physical model, a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object, which seeks to maintain the relative proportions of the physical size of the original object. Very often the scale model is used as a guide to making the object in...

 of the fortress is included along with other architectural models at the Miniatürk
Miniatürk
Miniatürk is a miniature park situated at the north-eastern shore of Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey. It was opened May 2, 2003. Miniatürk covers a total area of . It is one of the world's largest miniature parks with its model area...

 miniature park
Miniature park
A miniature park is an open space that displays miniature buildings and models, and is usually open to the public. A miniature park may contain a model of a single city or town, often called a miniature city or model village, or it can contain a number of different sets of models...

 in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

, Turkey.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK