Hegra

Hegra is an archaeological site in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, and the first place in the country to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. People visit to see the Nabataean tombs cut straight into the rock, and to get a sense of a civilisation that built confidently in the desert. The site is also known as Al-Hijr or Mada'in Saleh. On a visit you can walk among sandstone outcrops and look up at tomb façades carved into the mountainsides. More than 110 tombs have been recorded here, and 94 of them have decorated façades. Qasr Al-Farid stands out: a single, unfinished façade carved into a solitary rock. Along the way you will also find ancient inscriptions and old wells. Guided tours are available if you would like the stories explained as you go. The site is open from 07:00 to 19:00, and there is no minimum age, so families can plan to come together. The Nabataean heritage here goes back more than 2,000 years. Hegra sat on the Incense Route, where trading caravans met on a network linking the southern Arabian Peninsula with Greece, Rome, North Africa and Asia. The inscriptions record different periods of the site's past, while the wells show how skilfully the Nabataeans managed water in dry country. Together with the rock formations around it, this is a place where landscape and history are easy to read side by side.