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At the end of the 1930s, Taif is the summer capital of the kingdom. King ʿAbd al-ʿAziz spends the hot season there, the ministries move there for several months, and the great families of the Hijaz build outside the old town wall, in the districts of as-Salama and Qurwa. The al-Kaʿki palace belongs to this generation of residences.
According to the official record, the palace was built in 1358 AH (1939) by Muhammad ʿUthman al-Qurashi. The work lasted about two years. Al-Madina states that it employed local workers and Turkish engineers. The house was lived in by the al-Kaʿki family, whom the sources present as notables of Taif at that time. They say nothing more about its members or the life they led there.
The palace has three storeys and four roof terraces, over about 1,275 m². It has some forty rooms, six kitchens and ten washrooms, which says enough about the size of the household and its guests. The main entrance faces east, with two side doors. The façades line up cylindrical columns rising from one storey to the next, cornices, arched windows framed in marble and geometric patterns. The white granite, cut in five different shapes, comes from the quarries of the Taif region (as-Sakara, al-Ghumayr, al-Qiyam, Umm as-Sibaʿ, Abu Khushaym). Lime, brick, juniper, mahogany, beech, iron and coloured stained glass were also used. The pyramid-shaped roof of the third storey is said to have served to collect rainwater. Around it, a garden of fruit trees and flowers was watered by a freshwater well.
Later, the palace was rented out during the summer season to holidaymakers. Then it closed. In 2011, al-Madina noted that its doors were shut, that it was impossible to get in and that the garden was dry. Yet the building is still standing and clearly visible. The list of heritage houses of the Heritage Commission mentions it as a landmark: the al-Qadi house, at Bab ar-Riʿ, “overlooks the al-Kaʿki palace from the west”.
On 25 September 2023, for the 93rd National Day, the Heritage Commission projected light and sound shows onto the historic palaces of Taif, and the al-Kaʿki palace is the only one named in the news report. In 2025, an academic from Taif was still calling, in al-Madina, for care of the al-Kaʿki and al-Buqri palaces. No restoration work is announced in the sources consulted.
What is certain and what is not
- Certain: built in 1358 AH by Muhammad ʿUthman al-Qurashi, for the al-Kaʿki family (record of the Heritage Commission via Saudipedia; al-Madina 2011).
- Certain: the palace was closed in 2011, then lit up by the Heritage Commission in September 2023.
- Uncertain: the involvement of “Turkish engineers” is only given by al-Madina.
- Unknown: the precise identity of the members of the al-Kaʿki family who lived there, and any famous guests.
- To be checked: the present owner, listing in the national register and any rehabilitation project. It can be visited from outside.
Sources
1. Saudipedia, « قصر الكعكي » (based on the Heritage Commission: 1358 AH, al-Qurashi, plan, materials, quarries, summer rental): https://saudipedia.com/قصر-الكعكي2
2. Al-Madina, « قصور الطائف الأثرية », 21 September 2011 (local workers and Turkish engineers, pyramid-shaped roof, palace closed, garden dry): https://www.al-madina.com/ampArticle/107392
3. Al-Madina, « قصور الطائف.. سكن الملوك وشواهد العمارة والتاريخ », 29 November 2014: https://www.al-madina.com/ampArticle/345888
4. Saudipedia, « قائمة القصور والبيوت التراثية في الطائف » (Bayt al-Qadi « يطل على قصر الكعكي من الناحية الغربية »): https://saudipedia.com/%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%B1-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AB%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%81
5. Asharq, « إضاءة قصور الطائف السعودية احتفاء باليوم الوطني », 26 September 2023 (SPA): https://asharq.com/variety/68093/
6. ʿAbd ar-Rahman Saʿd al-ʿArabi, al-Madina, 7 September 2025 (al-Kaʿki and al-Buqri palaces): https://www.al-madina.com/ampArticle/950326
7. ʿAbd al-Karim adh-Dhiyabi, Okaz, 23 September 2026 (Taif summer capital, stay of the ministries): https://www.okaz.com.sa/local/na/2267369