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About 90 km north of Dammam is the town of Jubail, until the mid 1970s, it was a small fishing village but it then became one of the Kingdom's two newly created industrial cities, the other one is Yanbu on the Red Sea coast.

The industrial city is a complex of petrochemical plants, an iron works and a number of smaller companies, plus a Royal Saudi Naval base.  www.mideasttravelnet.com/mideastsite/saudiarabia/cs.htm

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Near Jubail are the ruins of what was unearthed in the mid 1980s by a group of people attempting to dig their vehicle out of the sand. The ruins are known as the Jubail church and are acknowledged by the Saudis, but who will not issue permits to visit it because, "the site is being excavated".
   The ruins are thought to date from the 4th century, which make them older than any known church in Europe. Not much else is known but speculation is, that it was in some way connected to one of the five Nestorian Bishoprics which are known to have existed in the area of the gulf in the 4th century.
www.mideasttravelnet.com/mideastsite/saudiarabia/cs.htm

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The town of Hofuf is the center of the Al-Hasa oasis, which is one of the largest oases in the world. Until about a century ago, most of the dates in Europe came from here and the area remains one of the world's largest producers of dates. Hofuf itself, contains an old fort and one of the most interesting souqs, markets, in the kingdom.  www.mideasttravelnet.com/mideastiste/saudiarabia/cs.htm

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