From its commanding perch nearly 5,000 feet above sea level, the ancient al-Qahira Castle has watched over Yemen’s third-largest city of Taiz for more than 800 years. It has witnessed empires rise and fall, survived countless conflicts, and stood as a testament to a rich cultural heritage that is often overshadowed by its conflicts and crises.
But the future of its weathered walls is now uncertain—not because of threats from invaders or shifting empires, but because of the sudden suspension of restoration funds.
“The walls and structures of al-Qahira Castle are more vulnerable now than ever before,” says Ahmed Jassar, deputy director of the General Authority for Antiquities and Museums in Taiz and a consulting archaeologist. “If restoration work doesn’t resume soon, the castle may suffer irreparable damage.”
When Yemen appears in the international news, the stories are most often about the country’s brutal civil war, which has been raging since Houthi rebels forces took over the capital, Sana’a, in September 2014. But the country has a rich and remarkable history that goes back thousands of years.
“Al-Qahira is one of Yemen’s most important historic landmarks, with roots going back to the pre-Islamic era,” explains Ramzi al-Damini, director of the Taiz National Museum.
With a name that translates to “invincible,” the fort was built initially as a hilltop stronghold under the Qataban kingdom, gained prominence under the Ayyubids and the Rasulids, and served as a defensive citadel before becoming a princely palace.
“Archaeological analyses at the site have discovered various Qatabanian artifacts representing daily life from that period—oil lamps, pottery vessels, coins and other evidence confirming it began as a Qatabanian settlement,” Damini told Smithsonian magazine.
The Qatabanian kingdom was one of ancient Yemen’s major civilizations, flourishing between roughly the fourth century B.C.E. and the second century C.E. alongside the better-known Sabaean kingdom. These sophisticated pre-Islamic civilizations developed complex irrigation systems, monumental architecture and written language in what historians often call “Arabia Felix”—fortunate or fertile Arabia.
By the 12th century C.E., during the Ayyubid dynasty, al-Qahira had become a formidable military fortress. “Under the Ayyubid state, the castle transformed into a defensive fortification with two main functions,” Damini notes. “It served as a frontline defense for the state and provided military protection for trade caravans passing through Taiz, securing them against thieves and bandits while ensuring safety for both people and merchants.”
The castle’s golden age arrived during the Rasulid dynasty (1229-1454), which established one of Yemen’s most prosperous and culturally rich periods. “The castle’s importance grew significantly when King al-Muzaffar, the second Rasulid ruler, made it his seat of government and an impregnable fortress for his state,” says Damini.
Under Rasulid patronage, the castle expanded dramatically, becoming not just a military installation but a centre of governance and culture. “Four palaces were built within its walls, including a palace for the emirate and a palace dedicated to literature,” Damini continues. “They also constructed elaborate water systems with cisterns and reservoirs.” These additions transformed the fortress into a self-sustaining royal complex that could withstand lengthy sieges while supporting a sophisticated court life.
For centuries afterward, al-Qahira Castle remained a symbol of power and continuity through numerous political transitions, remaining functional well into the Ottoman period and beyond. Its commanding position atop Taiz earned it the name “al-Qahira”—the dominant or victorious one.
Throughout the castle’s many lives, its location gave it immense strategic value, controlling trade routes that threaded through the Yemeni highlands toward the Red Sea. Its lofty location also spared it much of the damage suffered by other historical sites, keeping it safely removed from the daily paths trod by villagers in the lowlands below.
“The castle suffered for many years from neglect due to the weak national economy, leading to an absence of regular maintenance,” explains Jassar. “But the damage sustained during the war years was catastrophic, reaching the point of near-total destruction.”
During the past decade, the castle has been occupied by various militia groups, including the Houthis and the Abu al-Abbas militia. Its walls have been hit by numerous shells, bullets and missiles, causing extensive damage, Jassar notes. The castle palace that housed the museum completely collapsed.
“The main walls now suffer from major cracks and fissures, while the internal reservoirs—engineering marvels that helped the fortress remain self-sufficient for centuries—have become structurally unsound with partially collapsed sections,” he adds.
The castle’s main gateway, once an imposing entrance designed to intimidate would-be attackers, has lost its roof; its floors have cracked, and sections of its outer walls have collapsed. Without intervention, each rainy season threatens to accelerate this deterioration.
In November 2024, the U.S. State Department’s Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation announced that it would be partnering with the Yemen Ministry of Culture and the Spanish non-governmental organization Heritage for Peace to restore the castle.
The work finally began on December 1, 2024, according to Jassar, but it came to an abrupt halt at the end of February when U.S. funds were suspended as part of a broader pause on American foreign aid. “Our 26-person restoration team of supervisors, engineers and workers only managed to continue for three months,” Jassar says.
During those three months, the team made significant initial progress. They purchased and prepared materials, sorted and catalogued stones that would need to be removed and rebuilt using archaeological numbering systems, and began actual restoration work.
The team managed to rebuild the western part of the outer facade of the gateway building and a small portion—about 13 feet long by 10 feet high—of the southern external facade, says Jassar.
“The other sections had their walls dismantled to begin restoration work and remain open now after funding was suspended and the project stopped,” Jassar says.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. With walls partially dismantled for structural reinforcement, the castle is now more vulnerable than before the restoration began.
“The exposed sections of walls we opened for restoration are now susceptible to weather effects like rain and wind, threatening their basic structure and making them liable to collapse,” explains Bilal Shaif, an engineer and supervisor on the restoration project.
The bouts of rain that take place during the spring months are creating a particularly fertile environment for algae and fungi growth inside these opened walls, accelerating deterioration. “The partially dismantled sections weaken connection points between walls and other structural elements like roofs, making them less able to bear weight and more susceptible to vibration and pressure,” Shaif adds.
Perhaps most concerning, Shaif warns that “the scaffolding and supports may be affected over time by winds and storms, potentially collapsing and causing the building to fall—representing a significant danger to residents living below the castle.” The residential buildings face the threat of falling stones and collapsing walls due to the halted restoration work. These homes are mostly simple and unfortified structures that offer little protection from falling debris.
Muhammad Ali, who lives beneath the castle and worked on the restoration project, expresses deep concern about the walls that could collapse at any moment, having seen the fragility of the structure after the renovation work was suspended. “We live in a state of constant worry and fear, which intensifies especially during rainfall. We sometimes have to leave our homes fearing wall collapses,” he says.
For all these cultural, historical and humanitarian reasons, local preservationists haven’t given up, doing the little they can to salvage the monument, despite limited resources. “To prevent the prepared traditional plaster of qudad from hardening and being ruined, we applied it to some exterior sections of the walls,” Jassar explains. “This helps prevent rain from washing away the binding materials between the internal walls and stops water from seeping in.” This stopgap measure was completed through personal efforts and with workers volunteering their time without pay.
The General Authority for Antiquities and Museums has also been reaching out to several organizations, seeking emergency assistance, but most haven’t responded, and some have indicated that support would take up to a year to arrange. According to officials at the antiquities authority, the Spanish organization Heritage for Peace said it will be directing funds to restoration efforts later this month. Meanwhile, the local authority lacks the resources to step in; the antiquities authority itself has no financial allocations or operational budget in a country devastated by over a decade of war.
“We had great hope in the al-Qahira Castle restoration project, given its tremendous importance for preservation and reducing risks to residents living below,” says Damini. “The project’s stoppage will lead to the building’s collapse, as there are no protection projects or any emergency interventions from the state due to limited capabilities.”
As Yemen struggles with ongoing conflict, economic collapse and one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, the fate of its cultural heritage remains precarious. For al-Qahira Castle—which has survived dynasties, wars and centuries of weather—the next few months may prove decisive in determining whether this remarkable testament to Yemen’s rich past will survive for future generations.
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