Shibam - the ancient city of skyscrapers

This city for more than two thousand years, however, in the form in which it is known throughout the world, he began to take shape about five centuries ago. The architecture of the city from 1982 is included in the UNESCO World Heritage program.

For a long time this town, whose population is less than 14 thousand people, was the capital of the ancient South Arabian state Hadhramaut, now considered a historical region and province in Yemen. The city has about five hundred high-rise buildings of five to eleven storeys. Each floor of the house is occupied by one family. The original purpose of the construction of a city was protected from the incursions of the Bedouin nomads. Now the main problem - raiding termites. Naturally, the house was rebuilt several times, and among many of them have connecting bridges. To date, here are the highest in the world of mud houses, which reach heights of 30 meters.