Belgium Consulate in Jeddah
An old photo of the south-east skyline of Jeddah was posted on Facebook recently. Its caption is in Dutch and its translation is "Panoramic view of the southern part of the city, taken from the roof of the Belgian consulate". The photo seems to have been taken by a gentleman whose name is V. Leer. Unfortunatel it is not dated but its caption reveals a piece of significant information regarding a building where the Belgian Consulate had once resided. This building had been featured in photos published by Wolfgang von Weisl in his book about his visit to Jeddah in 1927:
http://lostopportunitiesandwastedtimes.blogspot.com/2014/07/wolfgang-von-weisls-visit-to-jeddah-in.html
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| Panoramic view of the southern part of the city, taken from the roof of the Belgian consulate |
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| A section of an n oblique aerial photo taken in 1940 |
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| The Alireza property where once the Begian Cosulate has taken residence. On the left Sheikh Abdullah Al Fadul house that once was owned by Sheikh Mohammad Al Taweel. |
I remember this building when I was a student at Al-Rushdeyah Elementary School back in the early 1950s, this building was located across the road from my school. At that time it was a hotel, Al Tayseer Hotel. Lately one of Jeddah's old-timers informed me that this building belonged to the Alireza Family. I have always wondered about its occupants befor it became a hotel.
According to Mr. Hasan Ridwan, a retired veteran of the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belgium was late in establishing a consular office in Saudi Arabia and that the first consulate was established in Jeddah in 1961. I have contacted the Begium Consulate in Riyadh more than 3 times asking to confirm this information and every time they promise to check and come back to me. Unfortunately until todate nothing came. So at least we can conclude that the Belgium Consulate has resided at sometime, perhaps in the early 1960s, in the Alireza Building shown above.
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| Photo of the same view from the Rendel collectin dated 1935 taken from the British Envoy Residence. (from the RGS archieve) |
