The historic quarter at the heart of old Riyadh, a planned district of government buildings, mosques, and traditional markets built in the 1980s using traditional Najdi architectural vocabulary. The Imam Turki bin Abdullah Grand Mosque, with its soaring minaret and arched colonnades, anchors the quarter from the west. The adjacent Al-Hukm Palace — a working government building — closes the square to the south.
Walking through the Qasr al-Hukm District in the evening, when the temperatures drop and the malls and markets fill up, is the closest Riyadh comes to the atmosphere of a traditional Arab medina. The covered alleys of Souq al-Thumairi and the adjacent spice and perfume markets are genuinely atmospheric, and the Safat Clock Tower at the entrance to the souq is a useful landmark.