Saudi Arabia’s second city has enjoyed almost 1,500 years as a major trading port on the Red Sea and is today also a major air hub for the region as well as the starting point for Muslims the world over on their way to the twin holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Jeddah Airport is so well prepared for the Muslim pilgrimage every year it even features a special Hajj Terminal only used by the faithful. Like Riyadh residents, Jeddans, as the locals call themselves, have developed an unlikely preoccupation with high fashion as witnessed in the ever-so-trendy Tahlia street where fully covered women eagerly dart in and out of Armani and Gucci boutiques. Although Jeddah can get uncomfortably hot, especially in the summer from May to September, the city is cooled by the adjacent Red Sea and there are sandy beaches that stretch down the coast, meaning Jeddah has as much sand of the rest of Saudi Arabia but it’s got the water too. Every year the city welcomes about 2.5 million pilgrims for the Hajj, a massive influx of people that brings in millions of dollars to an already buoyant economy that will only further cement Jeddah’s standing as a major hub of the region. In many ways Jeddah is a blueprint for the future of Muslim cities. With its mix of modern and new, and the slightly bizarre balancing act between high fashion and the abaya, or traditional all-covering robe worn by women, Jeddah has selected the aspects of the developed world it wants for itself and done so enthusiastically. | 
