IN THE UAE
Three forts built in the last century are now easy-to-visit monuments to the UAE’s history. Silvia Radan shows you how to explore them
Al Ain, that seemingly sleepy town that forms the backyard of two glitzy emirates, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, is actually a treasure trove of history and heritage. Friday shows you how to explore it.
It’s not big on shopping malls, five-star hotels or freakshake cafes. Instead, Al Ain has something else – the charm of an old Arabian town, traditional in lifestyle and rich in heritage. Palm-tree orchards spreading as far as the eye can see, boulevards lined with evergreen trees, a flower garden that has won international awards and over 70 parks and grassy plains surrounding hot springs are all good reasons for Al Ain’s nickname: The Green City.
Once the main source of food for this region, dates, along with groundwater resources, gave this desert city its name: In Arabic, Al Ain means ‘the source’. The natural richness of this city of seven oases makes Al Ain one of the oldest inhabited areas in the region – traces of settlers here go back 7,000 years.
Each oasis, and its corresponding villages, was guarded by a fort and watchtowers. Border disputes and attacks were frequent, making these structures essential for the protection of Al Ain and its resources.
Today, the city is home to over 40 palaces, forts and historical buildings. Many of them have been recognised and added to Unesco’s world heritage sites, turning Al Ain into one of the UAE’s most important historical and cultural heritage centres.
A couple of hours’ drive from most major cities in the UAE, and with a handful of modern hotels (including the recently opened Aloft), it makes for an enlightening and relaxing overnight getaway. It’s best visited in the winter months – not only for the cooler weather, but also for the endless range of activities organised throughout the city from October onwards. Here is Friday’s guide to three of the city’s historic highlights – its forts.
While you’re there, don’t forget to check out the Oasis in Al Mutawaa – last year, it was added to list of Unesco World Heritage Sites. Bicycles can be rented to explore the winding lanes of the palm oasis, especially enticing in autumn when dates are being harvested.
Al Muwaiji Palace: The President’s birthplace
Al Ain’s latest building to be restored and opened to the public is Qasr Al Muwaiji Palace, in the smallest and the most westerly of the seven oases of Al Ain. Built in the early 20th century, Qasr Al Muwaiji is best known as the birthplace of UAE President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. After it was restored and opened to the public in November 2015, a permanent exhibition was dedicated to him.
‘Qasr Al Muwaiji was built in the time of Shaikh Zayed Bin Khalifa the First, known as Shaikh Zayed the Great, by his son, Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Bin Khalifa. After Shaikh Khalifa’s death, the fort passed to his son, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Khalifa, then to the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE’s founding father, and his son, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan,’ explains Nasser Al Kayoumi of Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority’s Museums Department.
Initially built as a fort to guard Al Muwaiji Oasis against potential attackers, the Qasr (meaning ‘palace’ in Arabic) nearly doubled in size after Shaikh Zayed took it over. In 1946, he married the daughter of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Khalifa, Shaikha Hassa, and together they moved to Qasr Al Muwaiji.
In the same year he was appointed the Ruler’s Representative for the Al Ain region. Two years later, in 1948, his first son, Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was born in the palace’s north-west tower. The square-shaped Qasr Al Muwaiji, 60 metres on each side, covers 3,600 square metres, while the surrounding Al Muwaiji oasis is nearly 11 hectares.
The views from the three-storey towers are the same today as they were in the early 1900s. In the far distance, the magnificent Jebel Hafeet rises up from the desert sands and clusters of palm trees thrive around the oases, which are laced with falaj water channels.
‘From the start, Qasr Al Muwaiji was used both as a home and as a diwan, a council or seat for the governance. The building became a source of life for the Al Ain people, because usually, where there is water, there’s life. There was a water well inside the fort and the shaikhs who lived here used to give water, as well as food and subsidies, to the community,’ says Al Kayoumi.
The modern diwan – the court of the Ruler’s Representative in the city – hasn’t moved far; it’s located across the street from Qasr Al Muwaiji.
‘One hundred years ago, life was very hard here because of the weather and lack of water, food and infrastructure. It was very hard for people to move around and get their needs. Qasr Al Muwaiji used to be the source of life for people, because there was water here and there were men interested in helping people, who came to the palace from all over Al Ain, not just Al Muwaiji area. Even tribes living in the surrounding desert used to visit the shaikhs.’
While the views might have not changed, the energy of the courtyard in the late 1940s would have been very different. Today quiet and tranquil, it was then bustling with activity and dominated by a number of important buildings,
many built by Shaikh Zayed after moving there in 1946. Crowds of people would gather outside the fort, resting their camels and relaxing in the shade of the ghaf, the desert trees indigenous to the Arabian Peninsula, near the main entrance. Once admitted by the guards, guests would go to the diwan, where they would meet with Shaikh Zayed.
During his time as Ruler’s Representative in Al Ain, Shaikh Zayed made several additions to the fort: The diwan complex doubled in size and the kitchens, the mosque and guest rooms were enlarged to accommodate the increasing number of visitors.
Qasr Al Muwaiji was built from mud, mixed with either straw or palm tree wood from the nearby Al Muwaiji oasis. Later on, stones were added. ‘Here is also some ghaf wood, used to support the doors. It’s a hard wood and used for centuries in construction in this region,’ Al Kayoumi says, pointing to a piece above the door of one of the bedrooms that is more than 100 years old. ‘Its purpose was to keep the doorway structure in place and the mud away from the door.
‘The rooms don’t have windows. Usually, the windows are in the corridors. Back then, the windows didn’t have glass, they were just openings in the walls. There were some windows created specifically for [keeping the rooms cool].’ The mud keeps the rooms cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Only bedrooms, living rooms and the family majlis were built in the residence complex – the kitchen is in a separate area, outside.
After Shaikh Zayed moved to Abu Dhabi in 1966, the fort was largely abandoned. He carried out renovations in the 1970s, but it wasn’t until 2009 that the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) started restoration; in November 2015, Qasr Al Muwaiji re-opened its gates to visitors.
‘From October until May, there are celebratory events such as literary evenings and falconry. This coming season we’ll have presentations about our traditions, about Arabic coffee, about majlis behaviour, and also about Shaikh Khalifa’s hobbies – riding horses, poetry and falconry,’ adds Al Kayoumi.
1960s, those materials [were not popular] and the local builders didn’t really know how to use it.’ So they made a mix of stone, metal and jas
– a lime mortar made locally by heating stones then grinding them. ‘Mostly, though, we found stones.’
In all, there are 11 majlises, 37 rooms including kitchens, storerooms, coffee-making rooms, guest rooms, bedrooms and living rooms, and two cafes, as well as a large outdoor tent. They are all set among beautiful terracotta-coloured buildings and courtyards amid gardens of cacti, magnolia trees and date palms.
The towers on each side of the entrance were added to reflect the architecture of desert forts. A Land Rover identical to the one Shaikh Zayed used to drive out into the desert can be seen in the main courtyard.
Shaikh Zayed preferred to meet tribal leaders in their own dwellings to better understand their needs, but when they did come to the palace, he received them in a large open tent in the main courtyard. Here meals, Arabic coffee and Bedouin poetry were shared with his guests.
‘For me, what is special about Al Ain Palace Museum is its purpose. This was the palace of the Ruler, so a lot of people, all tribes, came here to solve their problems. That is why there are a lot of majlises,’ says Al Kaabi.
‘Shaikh Zayed used to sit with people every day. He even had different styles of majlises – he received his Western guests in a westernised majlis, which had seats, and Arabs in traditional majlises, where they sat on the floor.’
TCA Abu Dhabi is working on a plan to renovate the Al Ain Palace Museum. The plan is also to redesign some aspects of the modern side of the building, to add a fresh look and to change the visitors’ experience, without altering the structure of the building or its historical value.