Shibam - World's Oldest Skyscraper City

Image from Flickr is by Placida

Image from Flickr is by kebenkaise

Image from Panoramio is by maremagna

Image from Panoramio is by anna.g

Image from Panoramio is by maremagna

Shibam a small town in Yemen with about 500 tall buildings is one of the earliest and finest examples of urban high rise buildings. Its remarkable skyscrapers, built around 16th century with sun dried mud-bricks, have given the city the nickname of "the oldest skyscraper-city in the world". The city is also often described as "The Manhattan of the Desert" and has towers of varying height from 5 to 16stories (about 40 metres). These buildings are in UNESCO's World Heritage List.

View location in Google Earth Google Maps

Source of info: Wikipedia

More info: http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com

Credits: Special thanks to;

• diane9247 for suggesting to include buildings from Yemen in this Travelogue and
• kite_surfer for placemarking the town in Google Earth.