
The dramatic Dar al-Hajar (Rock Palace) is perched atop a rock pinnacle at the Wadi Dhahr Valley, north of the capital Sana'a, Yemen, 09 August 2011. The historical five-storey palace was built by Yemen’s ruler Imam Mansour Ali Bin Mehdi Abbas in 1786 AD. In the 1930s, the late Yemeni monarch Imam Yahya Hameed Al-Din added the upper story and annexes and used it as his summer residence. The palace became a symbol for Yemen with its extraordinary architecture

Yemenis stroll through the dramatic Dar al-Hajar (Rock Palace) perched atop a rock pinnacle at the Wadi Dhahr Valley, north of the capital Sana'a, Yemen, 09 August 2011. The historical five-storey palace was built by Yemen’s ruler Imam Mansour Ali Bin Mehdi Abbas in 1786 AD

Yemenis (L) stroll through the dramatic Dar al-Hajar (Rock Palace) perched atop a rock pinnacle at the Wadi Dhahr Valley, north of the capital Sana'a, Yemen, 09 August 2011. The historical five-storey palace was built by Yemen’s ruler Imam Mansour Ali Bin Mehdi Abbas in 1786 AD. In the 1930s, the late Yemeni monarch Imam Yahya Hameed Al-Din added the upper story and annexes and used it as his summer residence. The palace became a symbol for Yemen with its extraordinary architecture

A Yemeni man explores the dramatic Dar al-Hajar (Rock Palace) perched atop a rock pinnacle at the Wadi Dhahr Valley, north of the capital Sana'a, Yemen, 09 August 2011. The historical five-storey palace was built by Yemen’s ruler Imam Mansour Ali Bin Mehdi Abbas in 1786 AD. In the 1930s, the late Yemeni monarch Imam Yahya Hameed Al-Din added the upper story and annexes and used it as his summer residence. The palace became a symbol for Yemen with its extraordinary architecture

A general view of the Wadi Dhahr Valley is seen through an unusual colonnade of arches of the dramatic Dar al-Hajar (Rock Palace) perched atop a rock pinnacle at the Wadi Dhahr Valley, north of the capital Sana'a, Yemen, 09 August 2011. The historical five-storey palace was built by Yemen’s ruler Imam Mansour Ali Bin Mehdi Abbas in 1786 AD. In the 1930s, the late Yemeni monarch Imam Yahya Hameed Al-Din added the upper story and annexes and used it as his summer residence. The palace became a symbol for Yemen with its extraordinary architecture.
Palace on the Rock.wmv