The restoration work of the castle of Al Qahira, in Ta’izz (Yemen), started in December 2024, have been stopped since February 2025 due to the suspension of American funding from the Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation. The team of 26 archaeologists, engineers and workers alerts to an increased risk of degradation in the absence of protection of the stable structures.
In January 2020, the Governor of Ta’izz ordered a technical study of stability. Its alarming conclusions led, in March 2024, the General Authority for Antiquities and Museums to request emergency financing with international partners. The United States, the Spanish NGO Heritage for Peace, Waeey for heritage and development, as well as the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Zones (Aliph), responded positively in November 2024.
As early as December 2024, the site started: evaluation of damage, cleaning, mapping, excavation, structural repairs and preventive conservation. In three months, the team gathered and treated the materials, restored the western facade and partially that of the southern wall, while other walls have been uncovered for inspection.
The elements still to be restored are the main entrance, the north west wall, the site museum and the water tanks. But the cut of subsidies makes them vulnerable to bad weather. “The exposed sections that we have released are now vulnerable to rain and wind, threatening their structure”warns Bilal Shaif, supervisor engineer. According to Ramzi al Damini, director of the National Museum of Ta’izz, “The project stops risking the collapse of the building”especially since the state did not provide for measures for lack of means. The site, built in part on a slope, also threatens the inhabitants located below. Heritage For Peace, however, undertook to redirect funds by the end of the month to relaunch the site.
The castle of Al Qahira, perched at 1,500 meters above sea level on Mount Sabr, testifies to a complex history. The first traces date from the pre -Islamic era. Under Qatabans it is a strong place; In the 12th century, the Ayyoubids made it a strategic military fortress protecting caravans. Under the rassoulides, he becomes a princely palace: extensions, four palaces – including the Emirate Palace and that of the literature – and water reservoirs are built, making the building a cultural and governance center. This historical stratification considerably complicates its restoration.
In civil war for over ten years, Yemen has been in humanitarian and economic crisis. The General Authority for Antiquities and Museums is exsangue, the country depending on foreign funding, often subject to political vagaries – in particular since the Trump administration in 2025. In addition, the Houthis (militias linked to Hezbollah) stored weapons in the fortress which was bombed in 2015 by the coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
The castle of Al-Qahira in Yemen in 2014 before the Saudi strikes.
