The best specialized museums Mascate

A sublime glass footbridge dressed in arabesques links this House of Musical Arts to the Opera. From the first step, an oriental melody envelops us and makes us fall immediately into a musical universe. The architectural lines of the Arab-Contemporary style, the arcades, the white marble exterior, and the precious wood interior all evoke those of the Opera House, of which this House is an extension. With 500 seats, the auditorium is the "lighter" version of the larger and more luxurious main hall.

The House of Musical Arts is intended to enrich the programming of the Royal Opera House by hosting other types of cultural events: dance shows or classical music to more contemporary, jazz, baroque, world music ... A music library, a cultural center, conference spaces and a permanent exhibition on music complete this beautiful ensemble.

The exhibition is a unique model of the history of music, instructive, entertaining and interactive. A succession of rooms allows visitors to explore the sounds and music of Oman and elsewhere, from the resonance of the natural world to the best of human musical production. The discovery is divided into six chapters: Nature, Science, Instruments, Community, Connections and Performance. Eventually, a campus on opera-related professions should also be created. To be experienced!

This stone door inspired by the ancient doors was built in 1995 west of Muscat as part of the celebrations marking 25 years of Sultan Qaboos' reign. The museum opened in the upper part of the building in 2001. A short stop is worth the detour before starting the visit of old Muscat. Here you can discover the city's evolution from a fortified fishing port to an expanding metropolis. From the roof, you can admire a beautiful panorama of the old city.

Located within the walls of Bait Al Falaj, a fort built in 1845 as a summer residence for Sultan Sayyid Said bin Sultan, this museum is well worth a visit, as it is well known that nations are forged by force of arms. From pre-Islamic times to the emergence of the Sultan's power, including the period of the imans, the portrait of the country is displayed in 22 rooms. Another interest: the gardens and their weapons, including a curious boat and the old Cadillac of Sultan Qaboos.

Something very special has been woven over the years between Oman and France, a history where strategic thinking and commercial interests are intertwined. This "house of France", which was the heart and theater of this diplomatic and human chronicle, was originally the residence of a niece of Sultan Said, Ghaliah bint Salim. In 1896, Sultan Faysal proposed to France to install his first consul, Paul Ottavi, Corsica, the first of a series of thirteen, until 1920. As early as the 17th century, during sugar expeditions in the Indian Ocean, French ships anchored in the roadstead, the last point of call after Gorée, Good Hope, Sofala, Reunion Island and Zanzibar. At the beginning of the 19th century, relations took shape and in 1894 the decision was taken to send a southern off-roader previously stationed in Mogador (now Essaouira, Morocco), the famous Ottavi. Enter his office, reconstituted thanks to diplomatic archives and documents lent by the agents' descendants, discover the galleries of ships, costumes, maps and treaties, observe the astonishing parallels between French and Omani traditions, especially with Lorient and Marseille. In those days, the ladies of the region were not wearing raven veils, daring bright colours and patterns unthinkable nowadays; we will go, one day or another, to visit the Souleiado Museum in Tarascon to realize the aesthetic cousinage of the Indian women, these Provençal fabrics under oriental influence. Two treaties sealed the Franco-Omani friendship, the first in 1807 and the second, much more detailed and extensive, in 1844. Two years later, Omani captains with establishments in French colonies or territories were granted the privilege of sailing under the tricolour flag. In 1989, Sultan Qaboos, on a state visit to Paris, announced to President Mitterrand that he was making the former consulate available as a museum dedicated to bilateral relations. A unique establishment, without equivalent in other friendly countries, which was inaugurated by the two Heads of State on 29 January 1992. As a reminder that in heroic times the far-off lands were a priesthood, don't miss the French administrative documents in the consular office that detail the stays of the various representatives, and sometimes their sad fate: a first was repatriated because he "went mad"; a second was "murdered by heat stroke"; a third died "as a result of furunculosis".

Latif Al Bulushi, three words in French, Omani cap screwed on his head, gives us a wide welcoming smile. This museum, he wanted it and financed it with his savings, and this since 1999, probably so that he wouldn't have to spend his old age watching TV. Can an autodidact play the curator? By opening the doors of its collections, our host provides immediate proof of this, taking us on an absolutely striking visit, here Umayyad and Zanzibar coins struck with cloves, there original letters from a former sultan to the president of the United States or a map by Rigobert Bonne, Louis XVI's cartographer at the Navy's hydrographic service. And this chess set, a Chinese marvel in ivory offered to the White House in 1833. We stop again in front of the official agreement granting navigation under the French flag to the dhows of Sur and, stunned, in front of the stunningly beautiful photographic portrait behind her mask, a Madonna with a piercing gaze. Assembled over more than twenty years, these personal treasures now populate vast rooms on the ground floor of Latif's personal residence, named Adam after his son. Our suggestion: visit Bait Al Baranda, the Museum of Omani History in Mutrah, and then treat yourself to Bait Adam for exchange, encounters and unique pieces. Don't hesitate to make a detour to the shop: it offers typical Omani objects to bring back as souvenirs, at rather interesting prices.