Exploring an Abandoned Hospital in Riyadh

Ben Crowley

July 12, 2022

Anyone who knows us will know we like to dabble in a little bit of Urban Exploration. Seeing buildings that have been abandoned instils a sense of excitement and adrenaline, like Indiana Jones heading into a cave, or whatever he does that was exciting enough for 4 films. Even better is when it seems like everyone left in a hurry, not because we wish ill on anyone, but because seeing a place in a raw state with everything still intact makes one start thinking about what people were doing there, what it was like and the scenes of people moving out.

Ergah Hospital in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, is the perfect example of an urban exploration (urbex) dream. Built in the 1980s, this was a state-of-the-art private hospital catering for Saudi’s rich and powerful. The grand entrance with double staircase and a huge chandelier makes it seem more like the inside of a European palace than a Middle Eastern hospital. During the first Gulf War, Operation Desert Storm, in the early 1990s, the hospital was used for US soldiers, quite a step up being in a private room with ensuite, wood panelling, television, balcony and fridge, than being in a military field hospital.

After the US soldiers left it continued being used as a top class private medical facility until the early 2000s when it was abandoned. The reason it was abandoned? Jinn.

Jinn, where we get the idea of the genie from, is ab Arabian superstition, an evil spirit that takes over anything, from a place to an entire town. In this instance, his victim was a large hospital on the outskirts of Riyadh. As soon as Jinn takes over a place there isn’t much that can be done, so you need to move out immediately, which is exactly what happened here.

Going inside the hospital feels like everyone literally packed up boxes of personal belongings and walked out the front door never to return. Walking around you’ll find operating theatres still with equipment, wards with beds and televisions, offices with computers and paperwork. You can even venture downstairs to the morgue, which has been switched off, but is still there in all its creepy mysterious glory. On one floor there are clearly clinics such as Ear Nose and Throat doctors, Dentistry, Ophthalmology, Oncology, Orthopaedics, you name it.

The great thing about The Ergah Hospital in Riyadh is that the police are very unlikely to bother you as they’re too scared of the evil spirit Jinn who resides inside and if they do, it’s just to tell you to move on as it’s dangerous. This also means that you can clearly see it’s been used as a hang out for the bored teenagers of Saudi Arabia with empty alcohol bottles and some pretty innocent graffiti. According to one local we spoke to, teenagers come and hold hands and maybe even kiss there – pretty tame sounding, but it is Saudi Arabia after all.

Saudi Arabia is opening up and getting there has never been easier, furthermore if you don’t just love amazing history and culture, but also like the thrill of exploring abandoned or even never completed buildings, then Saudi Arabia is a dream destination. With all the oil money, many projects started but then were never completed due to a lack of interest from buyers. Because of the land available, sites that are closed down, such as an amusement park in the north of Riyadh, they don’t bother tearing the places down and reusing the land, instead they just build on new land. And lastly there are places scattered all over the country that Jinn, the Arabian evil spirit has taken over, rendering the location useless to locals, but a fun adventure for some of us.

Want to join us for some Saudi urb-ex (plus some other stuff of course!)? Come join us on one of our Saudi Arabia tours .