Rijāl Alma'

Rijal Alma stands among the steep mountains west of Abha, where routes link the Sarawat highlands to Tihamah and the Red Sea. Its close-set stone fortresses rise several storeys above the valley, their rooms decorated in the local tradition. The village took its name from the Alma people, whose merchants and scholars travelled beyond the district.

The houses were built as strongholds as well as homes, with entrances large enough for laden camels. Their height and close grouping offered protection to the community in a region of difficult mountain routes. One of the surviving fortified houses is associated with a history of several centuries. In 1835 the people of Rijal Alma resisted an Egyptian-Ottoman campaign led by Ibrahim Pasha, an episode remembered in the history of Asir's struggle with outside armies.