Monuments to visit Oman

A majestic testament to the late Sultan Qaboos' unconditional love of great music, the Royal Opera House, some 142 years after the opening of the Cairo Opera House, had its Arab premiere in late 2011, with Franco Zeffirelli's Veronese Turandot conducted by Placido Domingo. With a capacity of about 1,100 people, the main auditorium is equipped with beautiful red seats. The spectators can follow the filmed version of the performance on the screen inserted in the backrest in front of them, but also the text of the libretto translated into the language of their choice. At the interval, in the foyer, one discovers a collection of rare antiques among which earthenware of Quimper Porquier-Beau, a lyre of the luthier of Mirecourt Jean-Baptiste Thouvenel or a bicentennial zither of Jean Hénocq. As music is a link between generations, the Omanis have chosen to equip the main hall with a polytimbral organ of 4,542 pipes by Klais, the historical organ builder based in Bonn. Tickets can be purchased at the reception desk or on the website. There is a possibility to attend a catch-up session from Saturday to Thursday from 8:20 am to 5:30 pm with a small guided tour of the opera house which unfortunately does not include the backstage area, but offers a nice overview of the auditorium.

Since 2020, this tour can be combined with the tour of The House of Musical Arts next door. Small extra charge.

To prolong the experience, you can stroll through the corridors of theOpera Galleria, a shopping mall of rare luxury and elegance.

Masterfully renovated, the citadel of Nizwa is one of the most impressive and interesting in the country. The foundations of the present building date from the mid-17th century, when the fort was built at the instigation of Imam Sultan bin Saif Al Ya'rubi. Its construction lasted about 12 years, from 1649 to 1661, and the building subsequently underwent regular renovations and alterations over the centuries. Protected by a rampart, the entire structure comprises both a castle and a fortified tower, arranged side by side around a wide courtyard. The former served as a residence and a place for administrative services. The second was purely defensive. It is likely that the castle was built long before the tower. Strategically located in the heart of the city, the citadel allowed the surveillance of the inland trade routes, as well as the oasis and springs of the nearby mountains.

It served as a residence for lawyers, as well as for students from all over the sultanate studying Islam in Nizwa. In addition to its inner courtyard, it had a multitude of outbuildings which we visit today and which have preserved their furniture and ancient objects: prisoners' and students' rooms, prayer and discussion rooms, but also library, Koranic school, rooms for storing dates, etc., all renovated and well-documented spaces where one can learn more about life in the heart of the Omani forts.

As a complement to the visit, the former prison now houses an interesting collection of objects from the past, commented and illustrated by numerous didactic texts. There, in the labyrinth formed by the old cells, traditional costumes and jewellery, coffee pots and household utensils, old keys and locks, pots and baskets, various weapons, etc. are on display. One room is devoted to the aflaj system, another to the dyeing of indigo, and yet another to the history of the Sultanate since the formation of the Arabian Peninsula and in the light of world development (comparative frieze). It's well done and you come out richer than you entered, especially since the scenography is pleasant and the screens add liveliness to the whole by broadcasting short documentary films on the different themes presented. After this amount of information, you might be tempted to take a tea or coffee break in the coffee shop in the courtyard; unless you are going to storm the rooftops of the fortress, to take a picture of the dome and minaret of the superb adjacent mosque: one of the most prized views of the local painters and a choice photo, in an ochre-brown monochrome against a backdrop of mountains. From the citadel tower, a superb panorama embraces to the north the Jebel Akhdar, to the south the mud houses of the old city, to the east the souk and the mosque, to the west the oasis of Nizwa fed by the falaj Daris, one of the longest in the country. On the way down, other superb photo opportunities are offered to us. Since 2019, the courtyard of the citadel hosts a living museum. Under the arcades or in the shade of large tents, Omanis in traditional costumes reproduce the trades of yesteryear. The seamstress sector is particularly attractive, as it is a rare opportunity to take pictures of women in their colourful clothes.

Built in 1670 as a secondary residence for Imam Bil'arab bin Sultan, Jabrin Castle is one of the jewels in the sultanate's crown, renowned for its painted ceilings, walls decorated with arabesque astrological motifs, stucco and wooden moucharabiehs and magnificently carved doors: a fine example of Omani architecture. In its heyday, more than 300 people used to come and go between the crenellated walls of its enclosure, members of the imam's family and small staff. The complex was masterfully restored between 1979 and 1983, and the surrounding residents relocated a short distance away to make way for a parking lot. To discover this fortified residential palace, there's nothing like the audio guides provided at the entrance to help you find your way around the maze of staircases, corridors and adjoining rooms.

After the main door and a first courtyard, go through a second wooden door carved in one piece and valiantly guarded by two cannons. Immediately to the left, a small staircase leads to the guard room. Immediately after, a narrow passage leads to the tomb of Imam Bil'arab bin Sultan. Walk up to the tomb and retrace your steps. You then enter the castle's inner courtyard, extended by a hall. The tour begins here, at the far left. If you look up and wide-eyed, you can make out the slits on either side of the ceiling: these were used to monitor comings and goings at the entrance to the building. If an undesirable person tried to pass through the hall, boiling oil or hot date honey was poured on them as a sign of "unwelcome". Next opens the room where the provisions were kept. Admire the chests as well as the palm-leaf baskets and jars used to store wheat, spices, dried fish...

A staircase at the end of the hall, on the left, leads to the second floor and several reception rooms decorated with cushions on the floor and beautifully embellished carpets. The library with its carved wooden Koran holders is on this level. Take time to observe the engraved or painted ceilings for which Jabrin is renowned, and which have been brilliantly restored: arabesques, ornamental motifs, verses from the Koran, poems. A few steps lead up to the women's bathroom, while others lead down to the imam's tomb.

To reach the second floor, take the main staircase, the only one with a magnificently engraved ribbed ceiling. But beware! Its fourth step is rigged and can be removed. A number of nasty invaders left their evil intentions and their freedom behind. The importance of this trap is clear from the fact that the steps led directly into the apartments of the Sultan's family. You'll discover the guest rooms, adjoined by the small Hall of Secrets, or najwa, where confidential matters were whispered. Here again, contemplate the colorful beamed ceilings. The staircase leading to the third floor overlooks the rooftops, all nooks and crannies, with a panoramic view of the beautiful adjacent palm grove. On one side is the prayer room, on the other the reading room where the fundamentals of Islam were taught.

A door at the far end of this room leads back down to the other side of the castle. A few steps further down, head left, where a staircase leads to the second floor of the right wing. This part of the building is built around a superb patio, overlooking the kitchens. The first room on the left is the conference room, whose distinctive feature was a double back at each corner. Spies with keen ears could be posted here to listen in on whispered conversations! The second room is the dining room, and the third is the courtroom, with a door barely 40 cm high through which prisoners were let out... Another curiosity is the horse room, which was devoted to the master's personal pet. A peculiarity that speaks volumes about the adoration of the Omani (and Arab male populations in general) for equines. On the first floor is the kitchen, and at the far end is a special room where date honey was made. The fruit was stacked over two meters high in large woven palm sacks, then pressed. The resulting juice flowed into a gutter at the end of which it was collected.

For those interested in the restoration of painted ceilings, see the article in Icomos Information I-1988 at www.icomos.org. The author and director of the work, Jean Claude Bourret, describes the stages of this complex and fascinating rehabilitation. We learn that "the painters who decorated Jabrin's original ceilings had a wide range of motifs at their disposal: calligraphic, floral, geometric, interlacing, arabesques, rosettes, stars, polygons, spirals, interlaced curved lines, frames, etc." and that "three dominant colors equally distributed over the ornamental surface were used". For the renovation, "pigments were used from Roussillon, Gargace and Rustrel (in the Vaucluse region), where the pigment quarries whose hues were closest to the paintings on the Jabrin ceilings are located. Some pigments, however, were found on site, at the foot of Djebel Akhdar".

The Sultanate of Oman is renowned for its many forts, but the Sultanate of Nakhal stands out in particular. It is one of the largest and most beautiful in the country and, above all, one of the only ones built on an irregularly shaped rocky promontory. The foundations of the present building, like those of most Omani forts, are very old and date back to long before Islam. However, the foundations of the structure as it stands today date from three successive eras, during which the citadel was renovated and enlarged to its current surface area of 3,400 m²: the second half of the 17th century (a period of prosperity and relative calm under the powerful Ya'ariba dynasty, reigning from 1650 to 1744), 1834 and 1990.

Surrounded by a 30-metre-high wall and protected by six towers, the fort today forms a harmonious, well-appointed ensemble, evocative of past lifestyles. It has most of the characteristics of an Omani defensive building: its second entrance gate is surmounted by an opening through which guards poured hot oil on unwelcome visitors (remember to raise your head to observe this curiosity). There are two meeting rooms: one downstairs for the winter; the other upstairs for the summer, much cooler thanks to an ideal draught system during the hot season. They are decorated with painted beams (ornamental motifs and Koranic verses), chests and books, as in the past. The pieces of wood inserted in the wall were mainly used to hang weapons. The access doors were low, so that each visitor was obliged to bend down as a sign of humility and respect for the chief, the Wali. The fort also has two wells (one of which is on the roofs), two date storage rooms, two secret exits, a maze of rooms (including the Wali's private room with bed, chest, silver jewellery) and a multitude of stairs, as always.

The most courageous will be able, with precaution, to climb a makeshift ladder at the top of the east tower, from which a beautiful panorama of the palm grove and the foothills of the Hajar Mountains can be enjoyed. And gun enthusiasts will be pleased to find various weapons from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries on display in the middle tower. Also take the time to wander outside on the rooftops to appreciate the extent to which the fort follows the shape of the rock on which it was built and which dictated much of its architectural design.

Built on the site of the old traditional market, the "new" Nizwa souk, all in ochre and protected by ramparts, covers an area of 7,600 m². Its traditional architecture and the fact that it's frequented by locals and tourists alike make it a very pleasant place to stroll around, especially in the early morning and late afternoon, when it's at its liveliest. The layout of the neighborhoods is primarily functional. In the direction of the fort, around a lovely little central square that you can recognize by the large number of potteries hanging or lying on the ground, is the craftsmen's area, made up of several stores under arcades. Here you'll find mainly pots and jars, but also ancient weapons, antiques, silver objects and jewelry, palm-leaf baskets and woven rugs... A little further away, in another small square right in line with the entrance to the fort, a door leads to a large covered rectangular hall, crossed by two pedestrian walkways (East Souk), where stalls run by old Omanis line up. These are closing one after the other for lack of customers or people to take them over, and the place is quiet until further notice. But you'll want to visit it for its deceptively old-fashioned but truly authentic atmosphere, and the deep peace that emanates from these chiaroscuro spaces where the sun's rays don't penetrate to the ornate beamed ceilings. Another section, as if untouched, retains an old-fashioned charm: it's like a mini souk within a souk, with ancient, unrenovated arcades, narrow stalls and a whole bric-a-brac of very local products offered by merchants from another age.

Moving away from the fort, you pass through three covered markets for foodstuffs: one for meat, another for fish, the third for fruit and vegetables - all well laid out and meeting generally good hygiene standards, as is the case everywhere in the sultanate, where the cleanliness of shopping areas obeys drastic standards. Further on, at the far end of the shopping area, a final shed houses the date market, where canvas or jute sacks are piled up, as in days gone by. The price of the fruit is negotiated very closely, depending on the variety and quality of the harvest. You can buy directly from the customer or from a large store (7 days a week, 6am-12pm and 4pm-8pm) offering no fewer than 12 varieties of dates at around OMR 1 to 3 per kilo (with the possibility of sampling), plus a few other products (honey, date syrup, spices...). Just opposite is one of the best-known and busiest halls in the whole of Nizwa: that of the Al-Saifi family's famous Halwa Factory, crowded not only by locals, but also by visiting locals. Some would even travel from far and wide to acquire what is considered the best Halwa in the country, if not the entire Gulf!

We then leave the area enclosed by the ramparts and enter an open-air square, where a picturesque livestock market is held every Friday morning. Just as local and traditional, but located on the opposite side of a small square facing the entrance to the fort, don't miss the antique weapons market, also held on Friday mornings.

Built in 1985 to dazzle the delegates of the Gulf Cooperation Council, this majestic palace sits enthroned in front of its mountain-framed bay. You step through the heavy wooden doors, carved like those of a very large mosque, and the 38-metre-high Atrium is decked out in precious materials, with a crystal fountain and walls covered in arabesques inlaid with gold leaf. A chandelier hanging from the dome illuminates the 18-meter lobby with sublime sparkles. A must-see!

Bahla Fort, which has undergone 24 years of renovation, is the country's most imposing fort. Its south, east and north-west facades measure 112.5 m, 114 m and 135 m respectively. Overlooking the village, the building is divided into several sections. The oldest and most monumental section, Al Qasaba, in the south-east corner, is a separate entity with its own entrance. It has 3 towers, the oldest gate in the citadel and 5 floors of multiple rooms, including a string of 3 majilis with very high, absolutely majestic ceilings. The rest of the space is taken up by a vast courtyard that serves several groups of buildings with their wells, prayer halls, towers, defensive walls, countless rooms and spaces formerly reserved for public service: Bait al-Jabal built in the ^18th century, Bait al-Hadeeth added in the ^mid-19th century and Bait al-Qaed.

Although it has benefited from a masterly renovation, the fort, a veritable Chambord of the Middle East, is now completely empty (no furniture, no carpets, no objects...) and has hardly any explanatory panels. However, this is not the end of the story, for the whole place is impressively gigantic, and it's a dizzying pleasure to get caught up in the maze of half-level platforms, staircases, courtyards, rooms of all sizes, shafts, niches, alcoves, and the entire arsenal of a traditional defensive building - parapet walk, watchtowers, ramparts, loopholes... not forgetting the multiple roofs as many perspectives on this major construction and the oasis that surrounds it.

The citadel owes its prosperity to the Banu Nabhan tribe, who dominated the central region of Oman and made Bahla their capital from the ^12th to the end of the ^15th century. From then on, they established relations with the other tribes of the interior. Bahla was notably the center of Ibadism (the state religion) on which the ancient Omani imamates were founded, and whose influence can be found throughout Arabia, Africa and beyond. Proudly standing in the heart of its oasis, surrounded by plantations irrigated by the falaj system, the building is an outstanding example of an oasis fortified place from the medieval Islamic period, and illustrates the skill of the early inhabitants in using water for agricultural and domestic purposes. With its rounded towers, crenellated parapets and imposing perimeter(over) wall, the citadel attests to the status and influence of the ruling elite who occupied it. The remains of mud-brick family housing estates with their traditional vernacular houses(harat) and associated mosques, audience halls(sabla), baths and the homes of the fort's guards(askari), evoke a pattern of human settlement linked to the location of the falaj.

The importance of the settlement is also highlighted, at close proximity, by the ancient Friday mosque and its richly decorated mihrab, and by the remains of the old half-covered market(souq), comprising a series of single-storey stalls opening onto narrow aisles, all enclosed behind an outer rampart. The souq's location facilitated surveillance from the fort on its rocky escarpment. The remains of carved and artistically incised wooden doors, shelves and window frames bear witness to a rich and prosperous craft tradition.

Sur and Al Ayjah are separated by the maritime canal that feeds the waters of the lagoon. For centuries, dhows have been coming in and out, sailors have been embarking, workers have been carving the horseshoe sterns. In order to cross, one needed a boat or to go around the bottom of the lagoon, which is about ten kilometres long. But the State, which in Oman you have noticed does not count for road infrastructure works, decided in 2010 to offer Sur the first suspension bridge in the country. To approach Ayjah, walkers are advised, if the weather is suitable, to leave the vehicle on the Sur side and cross, on foot, this magnificent 204-metre long structure. After investigation, its architects are, unsurprisingly, the Germans of Schlaich-Bergermann, world leaders in suspended span structures, authors notably of numerous stadiums for the football world cup in South Africa, but also of the Mont Saint-Michel pedestrian footbridge project. At the end of the bridge, go to the left to quickly reach the small whitewashed fort located in the centre of the village (Al Hamooda Fort, open from Sunday to Thursday from 8.30 am to 2.30 pm, entrance 500 bz). Then, we recommend a stroll in freedom and according to your desires, passing by the banks of the lagoon and going up to the lighthouse for a superb view of the unbelievably coloured waters. The calm and old-fashioned atmosphere of the village contrasts with the liveliness and the overall style of the town of Sur just opposite, which is the interest of the place.

But why this long-isolated, bearded town? And why this very different architectural development? Historians tell us that Al Ayjah, like Al Ashkhara a little further south, is a Wahhabi land, which is extremely rare in Oman. Thus, in 1928, the rebel sheikhs of Beni Bu Ali established an independent customs post here and raised a flag to mark their sovereignty. They adopted the rule of Wahhabi Sunnism in the Saudi style, as did the Qataris a little later in the Gulf. The affair, of course, was not to the liking of the Sultan, who asked the British for help in bringing the restless into line - an arm wrestling that lasted 24 months. The revolutionaries are a distant memory, but religious rigorism is still present in this specific part of the city, which explains the systematic presence of the facial veil among women. Therefore, ladies, please do not visit the city in Ibizan dress.

Beautifully set up facing the sea along the port road, a few meters from the main entrance of the souk, these beautiful white wooden houses recognizable by their elaborate balconies were built from the seventeenth century by merchants from India. Being of Shiite faith, they had the particularity of not mixing with other communities. They created this strictly private neighborhood and lived among themselves. Today, with the influx of tourists, the Lawatiya would have partially deserted the place. Admire the beautiful mosque with the blue dome.

Built in the ^19th century as the residence of Sheikh Ali bin Timman Al Ma'ashani, this small fort surrounded by crenellations with triangular merlons, and featuring three square towers, gilds in the sun in its salmon-colored dress. Made of Taqah stone, limestone and coral, this is the southernmost publicly accessible Sultanian fortification in the country. In the 1930s, the fort began a peaceful career as an administrative headquarters under Sultan Taimur bin Faisal, housing the local "prefecture". This role came to an end in 1984. Restoration work was undertaken in 1992, and was all the more successful as the citadel had benefited from excellent maintenance.

From the terreplein in front of the entrance, note another more martial fort on the northern hilltop, 500 meters away, which is not open to visitors. Tip: climb up there a little later for the panoramic view over the palm grove. As we cross the threshold of the Taqah citadel, we discover, in a space much smaller than that of the country's other developed forts, a skilful spatialization around the courtyard, its palm tree and its badamier, then a sophisticated interlacing of staircases, passages and doors leading to several rooms... Furniture and fabrics have been replaced in each room, as if the wali still lived there, with his child in a curious mosquito-screened bed.

In one of the galleries, take the opportunity to learn about the exploits of French paleo-anthropologists, who discovered the remains of some surprising residents right here: monkeys. Yvonne Rebeyrol's account of these discoveries is provided by the Omani excavation management: "Six hundred teeth and a few bits of primate bone, several thousand teeth and also small fragments of bone from other mammals, the remains of turtles, crocodiles and sharks, thousands of limestone nummulite skeletons. Such is the 'harvest' of our fourth mission to the Sultanate of Oman, which took place from January 15 to February 15, 1992". The joy and pride of Herbert Thomas, palaeontologist (Collège de France), and Jack Roger, geologist (Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières) are a joy to behold. But the layman is both surprised and amazed when he is shown, carefully arranged in a transparent plastic box, tiny things 2 or 3 millimetres long, all of which are primate teeth found among kilos of fine sediment, and which remind us of the crucial role played by the Arab-African continent in the long history of this group.

Perfectly restored and maintained, the different rooms of this citadel are also equipped with many period objects and accessories. The audio guide in several languages, including French, alternates explanations and legends, facilitating and poetizing the wandering through the usual maze of rooms, corridors, courtyards and half levels. Built in 1711 by Imam Sultan bin Saif of the Ya'ariba dynasty, the 17-metre-high building, in which wood and limestone mingle, is a marvel of Islamic architectural art. It is distinguished by walls at least three metres thick, enormous gates dominated by openings from which guards could pour boiling date honey on potential invaders, and by an above-average number of secret passages and tunnels. The ground floor houses the prison: a round room with a central column around which the prisoners revolved endlessly in the dark. One then enters the storage room where the dates were left to ripen to recover their juice. On the first floor are the sultan's apartments, consisting of various lounges, rooms and bedrooms, including a bed built high up and equipped with a system for escaping in case of sudden danger. An underground tunnel runs along this suite, lit only by a few beams of light. The towers of the fort are beautifully carved, as are the ceilings of some rooms . Get your bearings with the audioguide.

A remnant of the past, the royal city occupies a large part of Old Muscat, the oldest historical district of the city along with Mutrah. It was from this original small fishing port that Muscat became the prosperous city it is today. The fortifications and defensive buildings, restored in 1979 at the request of Sultan Qaboos, date back to the 16th century, the time of the Portuguese presence in Muscat. Three gates (Bab al-Kabir, Bab al-Saghir and Bab al-Mathaib) line the city and delimit the oldest section. One quickly falls under the charm of this small district which seems like a neat village in the heart of the capital: renovated houses, flowery sidewalks, immaculate streets... an Eden on the edge of the Arabian Sea! We understand why some ministries still remain there, like the one of Finance with its golden door. All the sights being held in a rather restricted perimeter, one discovers the city on foot, and why not a second time in the evening when the clever lighting of the buildings and the mountains lends itself particularly to an aesthetic and peaceful stroll. On site, three monuments are not to be missed: the two forts Al-Mirani and Al-Jalali, and the Qasr al-Alam, one of the residences of His Majesty the late Sultan Qaboos, now owned by the new Sultan Haïtham ben Tariq. This last palace, quite astonishing and of loaded style, is preceded by a huge esplanade framed by long buildings with arcades. It cannot be visited, but its flamboyant exterior architecture allows one to imagine the sumptuousness of its interior spaces and decorations. Large gold and blue columns reach for the sky, surrounded by beautiful beds of orange and purple bougainvillea, and armfuls of roses, one variety of which bears the name of the former sultan. The three monuments stand on the seafront, between ochre-colored rocks. To get there, you have to pass through one of the gates (ideally the one of Baba al-Mathaib, the closest one) and go to the water's edge, at the level of the cornice where you can find: on the left, the harbor; on the right, the Al-Mirani fort and the palace; and, in front of it, even more on the right, the Al-Jalali fort. Proudly standing on small escarpments, the two citadels are not to be visited either. The first one now houses the royal guard, while the second one is used by the army. From the cornice, one can see the names of the ships that passed through Muscat and left their mark on the cliffs bordering the port. The oldest inscription dates from 1876.

Built on an elevation overlooking the entire Bay of Sur, this fortified castle was built 350 years ago during the reign of Nasir bin Murshid Al Ya'rubi, the iman who drove the Portuguese out of the area in 1648. The architecture is simple: a square flanked by four towers. One can observe the old foundations left uncovered as well as the entrance door made of sidr wood, the jujube tree that provides the thorns of the Holy Crown. The visit is fairly quick, but it is worth the trip for the view from the parapet walk.

On a hillock stand the remains of the mausoleum of Bibi Maryam, a holy woman. These are the best preserved of the ancient medieval port of Qalhat. Inside the mausoleum are four niches that were originally framed with rich Qashani earthenware tiles imported from Persia. It was also to include a mosque, described by the explorer Ibn Battuta as "very beautiful". According to the legend, only this monument resisted the earthquake that razed the city to the ground. The site became a place of pilgrimage before being classified by Unesco and closed to the public.

Direction the old souk, a shady square surrounded by arcades. This is where the villagers meet to play cards or chat. Superb photos in perspective, especially since some of the elders like to pose. Going a little deeper into the back of the souk, you come to a falaj and the ruins of the Al Khanajirah fort. The village is dominated by a hill where the remains of seven watchtowers still stand. One can climb up the hill by cutting through the old alleyways, where some beautiful carved wooden doors topped with Quranic inscriptions are nestled. From the top, the whole area and the sands of the Sharqiyah are dominated, making it one of the most coherent and photogenic urban ensembles in the region.

It is the childhood residence of the late Sultan Qaboos, now reserved for great national ceremonies. Every year, after the monsoon, a thorough cleaning of its Taqah stones takes place, one of the great pride of the region. The palace is of course closed to the public, and you won't see much from the road, but it is said that, during his periods of residence in Salalah, Sultan Qaboos used to drive around the area in his car and offer to grant a wish to anyone who called him...

Overlooking the modern city on its southern spur, this fortified village was abandoned half a century ago when the falaj dried up. As evening falls, in the wake of a talkative guard who knows three words of English but had the presence of mind to record historical information in his old Nokia, we wander through the narrow streets and old houses of an 11th century caravanserai offered to termites, but in the process of being rescued. We climb up there to enjoy a 360° view of the region. Ghostly escape into the past.

At the eastern end of the Sultanate, Cape Town Fort is a balcony to the world. In the 11th and 12th centuries, we were there in one of the most important maritime and commercial squares of the coast as Sohar was slipping into decadence and Qalhat had not yet taken over. Built in the 16th century and restored in 1989, the citadel has three imposing towers, including the western one named after Sindbad, the legendary sailor. The interior of the fort is empty, but from the main tower, the view of the city, the sea and the lagoons is very beautiful.

The fort was built inland, probably in the very early nineteenth century under Sayyid Said Bin Sultan, to provide protection against attacks from inland tribes. It consists of a vast inner courtyard, flanked by four massive towers, one of which is topped by an unusually slender tower, slender as a chimney. A whole small neighbourhood has been built up in the vicinity, which adds to the interest of the visit, if you find the door open. The complex housed the wali's administration until 1976.