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EN
ES
FR
Réf.
41763
Type
conference item
Titre
Conserving and interpreting the Hijaz Railway in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Langues
English
Auteurs
Orbaşlı, Aylin / Woodward, Simon C.
Date
2005
Pagination de section
1-6
Titre de conférence
15th ICOMOS General Assembly and International Symposium: ‘Monuments and sites in their setting - conserving cultural heritage in changing townscapes and landscapes’
Lieu de conférence
Xi'an, China
Date de conférence
17 – 21 oct 2005
Mots-clés
tourism / conservation / cultural routes / conservation of historic sites / tourism management / interpretation / pilgrimage
Pays mentionnés
Saudi Arabia
Monuments et sites
Hijaz Railway, Saudi Arabia
Résumé en anglais
The Hijaz Railway was constructed in the early part of the twentieth century to link the Levant with Islam’s Holy cities of Madinah and Mekkah. The railway was never completed beyond Madinah and its operational life was cut short by the First World War, never to be revived again. Today only a few sections in Syria and Jordan still function.The significance of the ‘route’ as it passes through the Hijaz, however, lies not just in the railway but in the many other activities that it has supported.. Prior to the emergence of Islam the same artery was used by Frankincense traders moving from Oman to the Eastern Mediterranean ports. Later the same route was used by pilgrims travelling from Egypt, Turkey, Syria and Jordan, a function it continues to fulfil.
Today in Saudi Arabia, the track bed remains a palimpsest in the desert landscape. Most of the railway buildings lie abandoned, with the exception of Tabuk station, a depot near Al Ula and the terminus building in Madinah, recently converted into a Railway Museum.This paper considers the potential role of the Hijaz Railway as a ‘cultural route’ in stimulating heritage tourism in Saudi Arabia. In doing so the paper considers how the wider Islamic and pre-Islamic cultural heritage of the route can be better preserved, interpreted and developed
Today in Saudi Arabia, the track bed remains a palimpsest in the desert landscape. Most of the railway buildings lie abandoned, with the exception of Tabuk station, a depot near Al Ula and the terminus building in Madinah, recently converted into a Railway Museum.This paper considers the potential role of the Hijaz Railway as a ‘cultural route’ in stimulating heritage tourism in Saudi Arabia. In doing so the paper considers how the wider Islamic and pre-Islamic cultural heritage of the route can be better preserved, interpreted and developed
Document joint
4-4.pdfLicence
Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (BY-NC-ND)
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