Exploring Aden, Yemen 🇾🇪: Little Ben+History
- Konrad Tillman
- 24 hours ago
- 4 min read
Intro
During my time in Aden, I did get up to some sightseeing activities that were culturally and historically very interesting. Well, on one of the days, we took a whole morning to head around Aden and explore some of what this bustling city used to be like back when the English were in control.
Little Ben
Perhaps you know of one of the most famous historical pieces from the United Kingdom: Big Ben? Well, did you know that when the English came to Yemen in the 1800's, they decided to build a replica of Big Ben on top of a hill? I am guessing not.
Big Ben is massive, so after driving up to the top of this hill, I was expecting a decently sized "Ben", and found this...
I am British, so I can say this (to back my credibility 😅), but it is like comparing a scale model airplane to a real airplane at 1:200 scale. Yeah, really...
Outside of having a good chuckle, it represents something quite a bit larger. It represents the oppression that occurred during the British time there and colonization. As I spoke about in another post, Aden was a huge port when it came to funneling slaves in the 1800s from Africa to Europe. And to take it a step further, you can even see from the top of Little Ben an island called "slave island".
It's horrifying to see, and I have to wonder why the new Yemen has decided to keep it. Perhaps to remember their roots, or perhaps the new generation hasn't thought about it too deeply. I am not sure...
Another quick note: above is a picture of Aden, and in the bottom left-hand corner, there is a small hotel, which is where Queen Elizabeth stayed when she came to visit in the 1900s. This has since been destroyed through the Civil War, but it's a cool story to hear from the local Yemenis.
British Row
The next interesting aspect that my guide showed me was a place he liked to call "British Row". Interestingly, back in the day, Yemen didn't used to be 99% Islamic. There were many different religions, including a profound number of Christians (putting this on the record, I am not religious).
Below is the street where British troops and their families used to live. International schools were opened up here, nightclubs would stay open until 3 am, and it from what I hear, it was vastly different to what it was today.
Muslim Influence
Since the British have left and the Jewish population left (we are not getting into that on a travel blog), the country has become predominantly Muslim. Heading around town, it was interesting to see many abandoned churches, and many beautiful mosques. Makes sense.
It's interesting, as during the main hours of prayer, everything is shut and people head into these mosques. So for example, we headed out on a Friday morning (weekend), and there was barely a car on the road, but the mosque parking was overflowing.
Anyways, that was just a quick thought.
Yes, The Country Was Under Attack
Looking at pictures and videos in the news is one thing, but seeing mortar fire and bullet holes up close in almost half of the buildings in Yemen is a whole different perception you gain. Throughout our drive around Aden, we came across many different buildings, ranging from ones that were flat out destroyed and abandoned, to some that had bullet holes with people living in them.
It's tragic and striking at the same time.
Off topic, but we drove past a building that actually used to be Standered Chartered. Aden used to have a lot of real and known name brands, such as the Sheraton and Pizza Hut, before the Civil War broke out. No more...
Final Thoughts
Aden is one of the most interesting cities that I have ever been to in my life. While not the most beautiful or put-together place in the world, there is so much rich history to be understood here. Whether it be having the second biggest port back in the day after New York, or having an island named "slave island", I tried to scratch the surface to help readers get a better understanding. Once again, I cannot thank the Yemeni people enough, as without you guys, I would have never been able to get a look into my country's history, as well as yours.
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