Where Every Stone Has A Story: Inside Jeddah's Ancient Al-Balad

The narrow lanes of historic Al-Balad do not simply lead you somewhere. They take you back to a time when Jeddah was the beating heart of Red Sea trade, the gateway to the holy cities in Saudi Arabia, and a crossroads of civilisations that left their mark on every wall, every window, every stone.

It was through these lanes that Bandar Al-Harbi led a group of journalists on a heritage walk organised by Arabian Sky, one of Jeddah’s leading travel groups. But calling Bandar a tour guide would be selling him short. He is, by every measure, a man in love with history and Al-Balad is his greatest passion.

“This place has a soul,” he said, pausing beneath a towering Roshan window, its carved wooden latticework casting geometric shadows on the street below. “Every time I walk here, I feel it.”

Bandar Al-Harbi is originally from Madinah, who made Jeddah his home two decades ago, drawn not by circumstance but by a deep and abiding pull toward history. He is an official tour guide licensed by the Saudi Ministry of Culture.

The Roshan windows are among Al-Balad’s most extraordinary gifts to the world, intricately carved wooden bay windows found nowhere else in quite this form. They were not merely decorative. They allowed air to circulate through the sweltering heat, let women observe the street below without being seen, and gave the city’s old merchant houses a silhouette unlike anything else on earth. The buildings themselves tell stories that go beyond architecture.

Walking through Al Balad streets

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Souq Al Alawi

Bandar’s voice quickened as the group moved through the old souqs. Souq Al Alawi, one of Jeddah’s oldest markets, still hums with a faint echo of the commerce that once made this city famous. He pointed out details most visitors would walk past without a second glance. Dating back to 1716, Souq Al Alawi is one of Historic Jeddah’s oldest and most lively marketplaces. Initially it served as a key stopping point for pilgrims heading to Makkah. The market is famous for authentic Arabian jewellery, incense, Saudi attire, spices, herbs, and traditional remedies.

Masjid al-Shafi’i

Masjid al-Shafi’i: The oldest mosque in Al-Balad

At Masjid al-Shafi’i, the oldest mosque in Al-Balad, the group paused in the kind of silence that old places of worship tend to invite. This mosque is located within the narrow, bustling streets of Souq Al Alawi. Masjid al-Shafi’i, originally known as Alateeq Mosque, is widely considered the oldest mosque in Al-Balad. Its foundation dates back to the 7th century, with current structures showcasing 13th-century architecture. This was not a monument. Still alive, still in use, still part of the rhythm of the neighbourhood.

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Beit Nassif

Bandar slowed his pace as the group approached Beit Nassif, one of Al-Balad’s most storied landmarks. Built in the late 1800s for Omar Nasseef Efendi, the governor of Jeddah at the time, Beit Nassif is far more than an elegant example of Hijazi architecture. It has served as a museum and cultural centre since 2009, but its walls carry memories that go much further back.

It was here, Bandar explained, that the Founding King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud listened to the demands of citizens during the unification of Saudi Arabia, signed agreements with ambassadors and delegates of foreign nations, and received heads of state, scholars, thinkers, and dignitaries from across the world. “Imagine standing in a room where a king shaped a nation,” Bandar said, letting the silence do the rest.

One of Al-Balad’s most storied landmarks

Then he pointed to the square outside, where an old neem tree stands with quiet, unhurried dignity. “We call this place the House with the Tree,” he said. “Until the 1920s, this was the only neem tree in all of Jeddah.” The tree, believed to have been brought from India, is now well over a century old.

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But it was when the conversation turned to preservation that Bandar’s passion shifted into something deeper, something almost personal. For years, he had watched Al-Balad age without adequate attention, its coral-stone walls crumbling, its Roshan windows rotting. He had spoken about it, worried about it, and in quiet moments, wished aloud that someone would listen. Eventually someone did.

The ongoing excavations and restoration efforts in Al-Balad, as part of a broader push by Saudi authorities to protect and celebrate the kingdom’s pre-Islamic and Islamic heritage, have been, for Bandar, nothing short of a dream made real. His eyes lit up as he spoke about it.

“I used to wish they would do this,” he said, gesturing toward a recently restored facade, its coral stone cleaned and re-pointed, its Roshan window repaired and standing proud again. “Now I walk here and I see it happening. It makes me very happy.”

Tariq Abdulhakim Centre Museum

The walk took the group to two museums that embody this spirit of preservation. The Tariq Abdulhakim Museum honours the celebrated Saudi musician and composer who helped give voice to the Saudi national anthem. His instruments, manuscripts, old recordings, and awards are preserved here alongside audio-visual exhibits that trace the arc of traditional Saudi music.

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The Tariq Abdulhakim Centre Museum held a surprise that no one in the group quite expected. Beyond the displays of manuscripts and old recordings lay an experience room, a space where visitors are not merely observers but participants, invited to pick up traditional instruments and play. And play they did. Bandar, who had spent the entire walk holding the group spellbound with his storytelling, did not step back here either. As others found their way around the instruments, Bandar’s voice rose to meet them, singing with an ease and warmth that filled the room with something that felt less like a museum visit and more like a gathering. It was one of those unplanned moments that no itinerary can manufacture. It was spontaneous, joyful, and quietly moving. For all of us, it was perhaps the most human moment of the entire tour.

Inside Masjid al-Shafi’i, The oldest mosque in Al-Balad

Red Sea Museum

Then came the Red Sea Museum, the newly built cultural landmark in Al-Balad district, opened in December 2025 inside the restored Bab Al-Bunt building. The historic Bab Al-Bunt was once the principal gateway through which pilgrims and merchants arrived by sea on their way to Mecca. The building itself is a masterpiece of Hijazi architecture and now home to hundreds of historical documents and artefacts spread across 23 galleries and seven themes. Ancient navigation tools, ship models, old maps, and exhibits on the Red Sea’s ecosystem fill its rooms with the story of a sea that shaped a civilisation.

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As the walk drew to a close, the team gathered with Mr. Bandar in the late afternoon light for a group photo. There was a collective sense that they had not merely visited a place. They had been admitted, briefly, into its memory. Bandar Al-Harbi gave a deep hug to everybody as all parted ways. He looked, for a moment, like a man exactly where he belonged.

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Bandar Al-Harbi, it must be said, operates at a frequency all his own. His energy never dipped, never plateaued. From the first crumbling lane of Al-Balad to the last gallery of the Red Sea Museum, he brought every corner, every stone, every story to life with a passion that felt less like professional duty and more like personal devotion. He enthralled, holding the group at the edge of every anecdote and every historical detail right until the final step of the 7.5-km-long walk on a sunny Saturday.

The group that joined this writer on the Al Balad heritage walk.

(The heritage tour of Al-Balad was organised by Arabian Sky for members of the Jeddah Indian Media Forum.)