King Abdullah Park

EN Texto em inglês Ainda não há artigo no teu idioma: trecho em inglês.

King Abdullah Park (Arabic: ﻣﻨﺘﺰﻩ ﺍﻟﻤﻠﻚ ﻋﺒﺪﺍﷲ, romanized: Muntazah al-Malik ʿAbd Allāh), formerly Al-Malaz Square (Arabic: ميدان الملز), is an equestrian field-turned municipal park in the al-Malazz neighborhood of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, located adjacent to Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium. Covering an area of 31.8 hectares (79 acres), the square served as a horse racecourse from the early 20th century until 2002, before being reopened as the largest public park in the country in 2013. Al-Malaz Square, as it was previously called, lent its name to the al-Malazz neighbourhood, which the park today forms a central part of. Popular for its 12-meter wide pedestrian corridor, 110-meter giant laser fountains and an artificial lake, the park gets flooded by visitors during festive seasons of Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and publicly organized events such as the Saudi National Day where the park also displays fireworks before midnight. In the early 20th century, the square held horse racing events for King Abdulaziz ibn Saud, which happened to be his favorite sport. The name was derived from word laz (Arabic: لز), which loosely translates to 'running fast in a race. The locality surrounding it eventually got identified as 'Al Malaz', named after the square. After the ascension of King Saud in 1953, he initiated the relocation of government ministries from Jeddah to Riyadh and launched a housing project for the employees, thereby turning the area into an urban neighborhood between 1953 and 1957 and gradually making it hard for the sustainability of horse racing. In 1965, with King Faisal's assent, Prince Abdullah and Prince Salman pushed for the establishment of the Equestrian Club in the square. Prince Salman instructed the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to issue a resolution for the establishment of the jockey club which was followed by a royal decree from King Faisal that handed over the club's presidency to Prince Abdullah.