Taʿizz, city, southwesternYemen, in the Yemen Highlands. It is one of the country’s chief urban centres and a former national capital.

TheAyyūbiddynasty under Tūrān Shāh, brother ofSaladin, which conquered Yemen in 1173–74, made its capital first atZabīd and then moved it to Taʿizz. The Ayyūbids were succeeded by theRasūlids (1229–1454) and theṬāhirids (1454–1516), who moved the capital toSanaa. In the latter year Taʿizz passed toOttoman Turkish suzerainty, which lasted, with intervals, until 1918. The Zaydī imams (leaders;seeZaydiyyah) of Yemen frequently rebelled against Ottoman rule, however, and sporadically held the city. After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire inWorld War I (1918), Taʿizz and the surrounding area came into uncontested possession of theimam.

Picturesquely situated at an elevation of about 4,500 feet (1,400 metres) abovesea level, the walled city is at the northern foot ofMount Ṣubr, 9,862 feet (3,006 metres) high. It has many fine, elaborately decorated multistory houses. Al-Muẓaffariyyah and Ashrafiyyah are two of the city’s notable mosques. Towering about 1,500 feet (450 metres) above the city on a mountain spur is the old citadel and governor’s residence. Taʿizz is the centre of the important coffee-growing district of southwestern Yemen;khat (Arabic:qat, a mild narcotic) and vegetables are also grown in the area. The first city in the country to have a citywide purified water system (built by theUnited States in the 1960s), Taʿizz also has aluminum, biscuit, and soft-drink plants.

Amadrasah (theological school) in Taʿizz is frequently referred to as an Islamicuniversity. A government experimental farm and agricultural school are located nearby. Taʿizz is the junction of two important all-weather highways, the east-west road fromMocha (Al-Mukhā) on theRed Sea coast, and the north-south route to the national capital of Sanaa, viaIbb andDhamār. Another road links Taʿizz withAden.

Long an important administrative centre, the city was for a time under the monarchy the seat of Taʿizz (sometimes called South)liwāʾ (province), which was ruled as an emirate by a member of the princely Āl Wazīr house; the province came under the personal rule of thecrown prince in 1944. From 1948 to 1962 (when the republic was established) Taʿizz was the residence of the imam and the administrative capital of the country. Places of interest in the vicinity include the former royal residence of ʿUṣayfirah and the ruins of ancient Thamad, a 12th-century mountain resort of theṢulayḥid princes. Pop. (2001 est.) city, 450,000; (2004) 466,968.