RIYADH: The Riyadh Region Municipality has released a set of rare historical photographs of Al-Safat Square, offering a glimpse into the daily rhythms of a place that once sat at the beating heart of the Saudi capital, and paying tribute to its famous clock, affectionately dubbed by locals as “Riyadh’s Big Ben.”
Al-Safat Square, the municipality said on X, stood at the center of the city, framed by the Palace of Justice, the Grand Mosque and the main markets. Its position at this crossroads gave it early prominence as a principal public square, and over time it became woven into the fabric of Riyadh’s old souqs.
With the first light of dawn, camel caravans would arrive at the square, mounts would kneel to rest, and the markets of Riyadh would swing open for the day’s trade — horses were sold, weapons changed hands, and the wider bustle of commerce took hold.
Beyond its role as a marketplace, Al-Safat Square was where the people of Riyadh gathered to celebrate their happy occasions and share in the small details of daily life, cementing its place as one of the defining chapters in the collective memory of the city and its residents.
In 1966, the square gained a new landmark that would come to define it; the Al-Safat Clock. It was the first talking clock in Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf, launching with four loudspeakers whose sound carried for roughly 2 km, and within a short time it had joined the ranks of Riyadh’s most recognizable landmarks.
The municipality said that the square remains a living witness to the city’s history and its many transformations; a bridge linking the past to the present, and a place that will remain firmly anchored in the memory of Riyadh.
This story was first published on Akhaar 24.
