Rada' (Rida', رَدَاع)

Rada' (or Rida', depending on how you translate it from Arabic) is famous for its mosque. Most buildings in Rada' are built out of mud and a stone wall partly surrounds the old town. The town is backed by a fortified rocky hill and is one of the most important settlements on the plains of Yemen's southern Al-Baydha province.

The exceptional Al-Amiriya Mosque is right in the center of town. It was built in a distinctive Yemeni way, by a Tahirid sultan, at the end of the 15th century. The beautiful mosque is not in use and open to the public.

The mud houses in Rada' are quite unique, as most buildings in other Yemeni cities are made of stone. In Rada' they are made out of brick and every year they get a new, gray mud coating. The windows of the town's buildings are unique to the region. The have triple-arched fanlights and huge alabaster panes.

Not far north of Rada' is al-Lisi, an active volcano.

There are numerous hotels and other places to stay in Rada', as well as many restaurants. The town has bus connections with San'a and lies about 120 km southeast of the capital.