SanaaCapital

Sanaa is the extraordinary ancient capital of Yemen, the legendary city of the highlands that spreads its tower houses of the alabaster windows, its immense mosque and its walled old town across the broad valley of the central Yemeni plateau, nearly twenty-four hundred metres above the surrounding deserts. One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities of the world and the traditional seat of the kings and the rulers of the country, it preserves in its interior the famous historic quarter with its hundreds of the decorated tower houses, its souks and its great mosque, a complete medieval city of the Arab world at the heart of the modern national capital. The monuments of the old city, the markets of the town and the museum of the country anchor the essential visits, while the mountains, the terraces and the ancient sites of the surrounding highlands give the dramatic frame of the capital. Ancient, magnificent and deeply threatened, Sanaa holds in its old town one of the supreme architectural treasures of the whole of the Arabian world.

About Sanaa

Sanaa is the capital of Yemen. The city's documented population is around 3,000,000 people. For visitors from abroad, the local currency is the Yemeni Rial (YER) and Arabic is spoken; the dialling code is +967.

The Walls of the Old City and the Houses of the Tower

Sanaa is a high, layered capital where the essential circuit moves between the old city within its walls, the great mosque and the market lanes, and the museum and the modern districts of the town, with the mountains of the horizon framing the whole high plain. The old town with its extraordinary gingerbread tower houses, its souks and its walls, the enormous mosque of the capital and the national museum with its treasures of the ancient kingdoms anchor the classic visits, while the palace of the presidential hill, the foothills and the terraces of the surrounding mountains and the historic sites of the highlands fill the days beyond the centre. The whole city and its art, deeply endangered by the war that has torn the country, remains the fragile architectural jewel of the south of the peninsula.

The Great Mosque of the Capital and the Souks of the Lanes

The climate of the city is the temperate highland of the country, with the mild days and the cool nights of the year, the two rainy seasons that green the mountains, and the warm sun and the dry air of the winter, while the extreme security situation of the capital dictates the absolute caution and the informed guidance of any visit. The rial of the country is the currency, with the Arabic, and its Yemeni dialects, the language of the city. The old city, the mosque and the museum make the core visits, and movement through the capital and the country follows the strictest professional security guidance. Modest dress, cash and the full awareness of the extreme instability of the situation are the absolute essentials of any approach to the city.

The Terraces of the Highlands and the Treasures of the Museum

The old city of the capital, the extraordinary medieval town within its ancient walls that rises its hundreds of the multi-storeyed tower houses of the baked brick and the alabaster, their facades fretted with the white gypsum patterns and crowned with the painted friezes, is the supreme architectural treasure of Yemen and one of the great urban wonders of the Arab world, its lanes threading the famous souks of the silver, the saffron and the crafts beneath the crenellated walls. The great mosque of the capital, the oldest and the holiest mosque of the country that stands at the very centre of the old city, with its courts and its leaning turrets, preserves the earliest chapters of the Islam, while the museum of the country, in its palace of the old quarter, guards the extraordinary stature and the bronze of the ancient civilizations of the south of the peninsula. The citadel and the presidential palace on their rock, the terraces and the villages of the surrounding mountains, and the gates and the towers of the ancient walls, complete the essential, vertiginously beautiful, deeply imperilled circuit of the ancient capital of the Yemen.

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Country: Yemen
Population: 3,000,000

Capital: Sanaa
Region: Asia
Currency: Yemeni Rial (YER)
Languages: Arabic
Calling code: +967
Country code: YE

Frequently asked questions

Is Sanaa the capital of Yemen?

Yes — Sanaa is the capital of Yemen.

What currency do I need in Sanaa?

The local currency is the Yemeni Rial (YER). Languages spoken in Yemen include Arabic.

What is the dialling code for Yemen?

The international dialling code for Yemen is +967.

Flying out of Sanaa? Check the entry requirements for your destination in our entry requirements tool before you fly.