Taez

Taez (also written sometimes as Taiz, or Tai'zz), one of the biggest metropolitan cities in the country, approx. 250km away from Sana'a to its south, at 1400m above sea level.

originally called Junaid, when it was a village, it grew and became known as Taez. according to yemeni history, the entire region of southern yemen was affected by the pest in the 11th century. Queen Arwa helped to eradicate it and gave the city its current name. following a prosperic period from the 13th to the 16th century, it became again a provincial town. in 1948, Imam Ahmed chose Taez as his residence which, up to his death in 1962, again became the political and administrative centre of northern yemen.

today, Taez is a rather modern city, with the exception of its old quarter, close to the mosques and the markets.