Saudi Arabia’s First UNESCO Site

Saudi Arabia’s First UNESCO Site

Discover Hegra, a magnificent archeological site in the middle of the desert

We have all dreamed of discovering the ruins of an ancient city lost on the other side of the world like Indiana Jones!


By discovering Saudi Arabia, EXO Travel offers you the possibility to feel like an explorer and dive into the skin of an archaeologist!

The Hegra site also know as ‘Al-Hijr / Madain Saleh’ is classified as a world heritage site by UNESCO since 2008. The necropolis of Hegra is located near the city of Al-Ula.

Follow the route of the Nabateans, a nomadic people who roamed the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula and became renowned traders in Indian spices, aloe vera and incense over the years.

Great journeys have this marvelous thing that their enchantment begins before the departure itself. One opens the atlases, one dreams on the maps. We repeat the magnificent names of unknown cities.

Joseph Kessel​

The site of Hegra has been closed for over 2000 years. Like an archaeologist, you will be able to visit the 111 tombs with inscriptions engraved in the rock telling part of the history and beliefs of a forgotten people. Although this population appeared around the first century BC, their culture and history are still very much unknown. With little or no written record, it is a place where much remains to be discovered and which fascinates modern archaeologists and historians.

Several ancient languages such as Lihyanite, Thamudic, Nabataean, Greek and Latin are found in epigraphic form, which testifies to the encounter of many civilisations over the centuries; Assyrian, Egyptian, Phoenician, Hellenistic…

In the middle of the desert, how can you imagine that they became true water and agricultural engineers. They used underground cisterns to collect rainwater and were able to protect their buildings by creating irrigation pipes around the monuments to prevent them from eroding while watering their crops.

As well as seeing this amazing site, you can spend the night in the nearby town of Al-Ula in a luxury tent in the middle of the desert to enjoy the magic of the starry sky at night.

To discover more about Saudi, we have prepared a complete guide here.

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