San'a

Capital of Yemen, southwest Arabia, 320 km/200 mi north of Aden on the central plateau, 2,210 m/7,250 ft above sea level; population (2004) 918,400. A walled city, with fine mosques and traditional architecture, it is rapidly being modernized. Weaving and jewellery are local handicrafts.

Old San'a dates from the 14th and 15th centuries. It grew rich because of its position on one of the Arabian spice trade routes. UNESCO launched a campaign to restore and safeguard the old city in 1984.

San'a was historically two towns which touched, one the old town and the other the garden town and Jewish quarter. It had the shape of an ‘8’, the whole and each section having its own wall. The traditional houses were rectangular in plan and some are seven storeys high; the ground floor and perhaps the first are of stone, anything above that of brick. Trades include shoe-making, tailoring, weaving, handicrafts in general, and oil mills. The town lies on a north–south trade route which ends at Aden.