Visit January 2011

Bahrain Fort is located on the outskirts of Manama, with good views over the sea and to the highrise buildings of the Bahraini capital. To my surprise there were dozens of other European tourists around. Most of them Germans, busloads full of them, maybe they were from a cruise ship. They however did only a quick tour of the site, so I had most of it to myself anyway. I started with a circular walk outside of the walls. The edges of the terrain are covered with some pretty palm groves, which have been in use since ancient times.

 The fort itself looks almost over-restored. Compare my photos for example with the one taken by Paul Tanner in 2005 (see his review below). It seems that it has been white-washed during the final phase of restoration. The fortifications look like they always do (I do like the straight lines of the walls and the shape of the turrets). The interior holds a remarkably large open courtyard. The surrounding structures are in ruins and one can only guess what they were used for.

 There’s a small museum on site, that displays a lot if items (pottery, stamp-seals) that I had already seen earlier in the day in the more extensive National Museum of Bahrain. It was only there that I found out that there is an entrance fee to the Fort - after arriving I had just walked up and around it without being bothered by anyone (the ticket lady hides herself in the museum). The complex has a pretty good museum café too, where I enjoyed a salad on the terrace while overlooking the fortress and the harbour.

Qal'at al-Bahrain

Qal’at al-Bahrain is the archaeological site of a port which was once the capital of the Dilmun civilization, and served more recently as a Portuguese fort. It is a typical tell – an artificial mound created by many successive layers of human occupation.

The hill shows almost continuous remains from ca. 2300 BC to the 16th century BC. They span the Dilmun, Tylos, later Islamic societies and the Portuguese period. This makes it a rare archeological and historical reference site in Eastern Arabia and the Gulf region.
The site gets its name from Qal`at al-Burtughal (Portuguese fort). In the early 1500s, the Portuguese saw Bahrain as a key point to protect their trade routes between India, Africa and Europe. They invaded the island and set up military base at the Bahrain Fort. They strengthened the already existing fortress and erected new stone towers.
                             The site was only rediscovered in 1954. Restoration was started in 1987.

Qatar Sprouts a Towering Cactus Skyscraper

The Minister of Municipal Affairs & Agriculture (MMAA) in Qatar is getting a brand new office building that takes the form of a towering cactus. Designed by Bangkok-based Aesthetics Architects, the modern office and adjoining botanical dome take cues from cacti and the way that they successfully survive in hot, dry environments.

 Qatar is fairly barren, covered by sand, and receives and average annual rainfall of 3.2 inches. Since Qatar has the highest GDP in the world, they can afford to construct spectacular buildings that can be very efficient in the hot desert environment. Aesthetics Architects GO Group decided to model the MMA’s new office upon the cactus, taking inspiration from the way these plants deal with the scorching desert climate

An excellent example of desert architecture, MMA’s new building is designed be very energy efficient and utilizes sun shades on its windows. Depending on the intensity of the sun during the day, the sun shades can open or close to keep out the heat when it is too much. This is similar to how a cactus chooses to perform transpiration at night rather during the day in order to retain water – another great example of biomimicry. The botanic dome at the base of the tower will house a botanical garden. Hopefully it will include an edible garden and a living machine as well.

Dubai Pics

Bahrain Pics