page_title: Amiriya Madrasa
section_title: Significance
hierarchical_section_title: Amiriya Madrasa / Significance
caption_attribution_description: Intern Jason Fabbricante and Acting Public Affairs Officer Jennifer Bryson visit the Amiriya Madrasa/Mosque Restoration Project. Image Copyright U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen.
context_page_description: Al-Amiriya is a 16th-century madrasa located in Rada, Yemen. It is under consideration for inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was built in 1504 and is an example of the architecture of Tahirids, Yemen. The monument was in poor condition until 1978 when Iraqi-born archaeologist Selma Al-Radi saw it and enlisted financial help from foreign missions to restore it in a more than twenty-year effort which she led.
context_section_description: This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on July 8, 2002, in the Cultural category.
  The restoration process revived the art of qadad, a form of waterproof interior and exterior plastering. In 2004 a documentary film, Qudad, Re-inventing a Tradition, was made on the subject by the filmmaker Caterina Borelli (preview).
  The restoration of the Amiriya Complex was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2007.
caption: Close-up of part of the restored Amiriya Complex, showing white qadad
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