Margab Fort (), also known as al-Zirin Fort (), was a citadel in the eastern outskirts of the

walled town of Riyadh The walled town of Riyadh was the original core of Riyadh, the modern-day capital of Saudi Arabia, located on the western edge of Wadi al-Batʼha in present-day districts of Al Dirah (Riyadh), ad-Dirah and Al Doho, ad-Doho. It emerged from the ci ...

in present-day

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. It is not known by whom the structure was built, but its origins trace as far back as the 16th century. The fort functioned as a

security checkpoint Civilian checkpoints or security checkpoints are distinguishable from border or frontier checkpoints in that they are erected and enforced within contiguous areas under military or paramilitary control. Civilian checkpoints have been employed w ...

for travelers passing through the town at the time of

Second Saudi State The second Saudi state (), officially known as the Emirate of Najd, was a state that existed between 1824 and 1891 in the Najd region of what is now Saudi Arabia. Saudi rule was restored to central (Najd) and Eastern Arabia after the first Sau ...

in the 19th century. It was first restored by Turki bin Abdullah and the tradition of Iftar cannon was introduced during the reign of Faisal bin Turki. It was again restored in 1936 by King Abdulaziz ibn Saud and finally demolished in the period 1954–1957 during the reign of King Saud bin Abdulaziz when the city underwent expansion. The fort lent its name to the Margab neighborhood in the city's

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

, where it stood.

References

Buildings and structures in Riyadh 1957 disestablishments in Saudi Arabia Forts in Saudi Arabia Demolished buildings and structures in Saudi Arabia Buildings and structures demolished in 1957 Year of establishment unknown 16th-century fortifications 16th-century architecture in the Middle East {{SaudiArabia-struct-stub