Historic Taif fortresses were built to last

JEDDAH: Taif city is rich in antique fortresses and castles that have stood the test of time. These fortresses and castles are tourist landmarks that have always attracted visitors.

The architecture of these castles and fortresses relied on designs that focused on providing protection in battles. They were used as control towers in addition to their strategic importance of being a residential building, making them one of Islamic culture’s best architectural systems.

Saad Al-Joudi, a modern history teacher, told Arab News: “The forts in the south of Taif are known to be the biggest buildings not only for residence. They were built by a group of skilled constructors to protect residents from any interior or exterior assault.”

Al-Joudi said that “the people of Taif built their forts in a special architectural way, benefitting from the richness of the mountain belts in their regions, creating cone-shaped buildings of different scales.”

He added that strong men would push heavy stones to the site; the constructors would then build the forts (sometimes reaching 15 meters in height). They would use the thick stones first and the less thick ones later, as the height increased to create a strong and stable defensive base ready to face the enemy.

Mona Osairy, a history scholar, told Arab News that the forts have the capacity to handle low temperatures in winter and high heat in summer as the thickness of the stones blocks wind, storms, cold