IBRAHIM PALACE

Ibrahim's palace is hidden behind a high wall punctuated by 7 towers with small defensive openings. Construction work began in 1555 on the initiative of Ali ibn Ahmed Ibn Lawand Al-Burayki, the Ottoman governor in Al Hofuf. Its primary function is to serve as barracks for soldiers of the Ottoman army. A mosque covered with a large white dome is built simultaneously. In the seventeenth century, the palace was enlarged and transformed into a fortress, then it became a prison. Returning to its military vocation, Turkish baths were built in front of the mosque, a small room also topped by a white dome. It was the first baths of the Peninsula. The palace underwent a complete renovation in 1801, financed by the Saudi governor Ibrahim ibn 'Ufaysan. Historians believe that it is from this character that the palace takes its name. It is at this time that it takes its final form. The palace of Ibrahim was being renovated when we visited. The ceilings in palm trunks and reeds, the white plaster coatings inside, the adobe coatings outside were completely redone.

Ibrahim's palace occupies an area of 1.6 hectares. It mixes Islamic and Ottoman styles. The broken arches, domes and mihrab reflect the Islamic style. The minaret of the mosque, built in stone, and hiding a spiral staircase, is of Turkish style, as well as the baths added in the 17th century. The military quarters occupied the eastern wing of the fort.