Al-Murabba المربع | |
|---|---|
.jpg) TheNational Museum of Saudi Arabia, 2012 | |
 | |
| Coordinates:24°38′46″N46°42′36″E / 24.64611°N 46.71000°E /24.64611; 46.71000 | |
| Country |  Saudi Arabia |
| City | Riyadh |
| Government | |
| • Body | Al Malaz Sub-Municipality |
| Area | |
• Total | 4.88 km2 (1.88 sq mi) |
| Language | |
| • Official | Arabic |
 | |
Al-Murabba (Arabic:المربع,romanized: al-murabbaʿ,lit. 'the square') is a historic neighborhood in centralRiyadh,Saudi Arabia,[1] located west ofal-Wazarat and north ofal-Futah in the sub-municipality ofal-Malaz. Its name reportedly comes from a broken square-shapeddry well around which theMurabba Palace was built and from where latter's name gets derived as well.[2][3] It is situated in close proximity to theal-Batʼha commercial area and theQasr al-Hukm District. Al-Murabba has lent its name to theNew Murabba project, a planned downtown and real estate development in northwesternRiyadh. The neighborhood hosts a large presence of overseasEgyptian community.[4]
After theunification of Saudi Arabia,King Abdulaziz ordered building of palaces outside theformer city walls ofOld Riyadh, marking one of the preludes for the subsequent expansions ofRiyadh.[5][6] One of the places he chose was in the Murabba neighborhood in 1937 to build theMurabba Palace. According to Saudi historian Mansour al-Assaf, there was a square-shapeddry well in the neighborhood, from which the area derives its name 'al-Murabba' (lit. the square).[2][3] In 1969, theRiyadh Water Tower was inaugurated in the neighborhood.[7] In 1999, theKing Abdulaziz Historical Center which contained the Abdulaziz's former Murabba Palace and theNational Museum was inaugurated byKing Fahd to commemorate the 100th anniversary (in terms of Hijri calendar) of Abdulaziz'scapturing of Riyadh in 1902.[8]
In February 2023, crown princeMohammed bin Salman announced a new downtown project in northwest ofRiyadh, known as theNew Murabba, named after the neighborhood. He also unveiled the project ofMukaab, a 400-meter (1,300 ft) cuboidal skyscraper located in theNew Murabba and is modeled after the cuboidal layout of theMurabba Palace.[9][10][11]
