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, and the first hotel chain to open in the Emirates, the Hilton Al Ain), 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, 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 exciting 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 Al Muwaiji Palace, in the smallest and the most westerly of the seven oases of Al Ain.
Built in the first years of the 20th century, Qasr Al Muwaiji is best known as the birthplace of the UAE President HH 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 Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and his son, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed,’ 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 Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who would go on to found the UAE, 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 meters, while the surrounding Al Muwaiji oasis is nearly 11 hectares.
The south-east tower, which was originally defensive, has three rooms, while the north-east tower, the fort’s first residential area, has four rooms, and the north-west tower has seven rooms; the views from the three-story 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’s south-east tower warned of potential attacks, so it kept the area safe. It became a source of life for the Al Ain people, because usually, where there is water, there is 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 Rrepresentative in the city – hasn’t moved far; it’s now 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. This place, 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 come to sit with 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.
To start with, 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. ‘There is also some ghaf wood, used to support the doors. It is a hard wood and used for centuries in construction in this region. Al Kayoumi points to a piece above the door of one of the bedrooms, which is more than 100 years old. ‘Its purpose was to keep the doorway structure in place and keep the mud away from the door,’ he says.
‘The rooms don’t have windows. Usually, the windows are in the corridors, to keep them cold. Builders knew exactly where to place them to keep the rooms cool and lit. Back then, the windows didn’t have any glass, they were just openings in the walls. There were some windows created specifically for air conditioning.’ 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.
How to get there: Khalifa Bin Zayed St, Al Ain - Abu Dhabi
Entry fee and timings: For free. Tuesday–Thursday: 9am-7pm (Monday closed); Friday: 3pm-7pm; Saturday: 9am-7pm
What to do:
1. Ayallah and Harbiya Performances: Two popular Emirati folk shows performed by groups of men encouraged by a group of musicians playing traditional Emirati instruments. Every Thursday until April 2018.
2. Yalsa: Workshops on traditional Emirati protocol and etiquette. Every Thursday until April 2018.
3. Royal ‘Bisht’: Workshop showcasing the different patterns each UAE ruler had on his bisht (traditional overcoat worn by men in the region), followed by sewing workshops. Monthly until April 2018: 16 Nov, 14 Dec 2017 - 18 Jan, 22 Feb, 22 Mar, 26 Apr 2018.
4. Falconer’s Camp: visitors can become falconers for an hour. Every Saturday until Feb 2018.
Al Ain Palace: The Shaikh’s 37-room home
At the southern end of Al Ain Oasis is the Palace Museum, another a royal home. If Qasr Al Muwaiji is the birthplace of Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed, Al Ain Palace is where his younger brother, General Shaikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, spent the first years of his life.
‘This was Shaikh Zayed’s main residence in Al Ain,’ says Omar Salem Al Kaabi, historic buildings researcher at TCA Abu Dhabi.
‘It was built in different stages. Initially, it was just a mud room, built with palm tree wood. After that, the palace was built in 1937. We believe it was used as a summer house, but we don’t know for whom,’ he adds.
‘In the second stage, in the mid-1950s, Shaikh Zayed built a house for himself and his second wife, Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, and the relatives of Shaikha Fatima. The third stage was from 1960 to 1963, when Shaikh Zayed built the two-storey majlis and also the bridge that connected Shaikha Fatima’s rooms with his rooms.’
In 1964-65, a school, a clinic, and a main gate were added – not the modern entrance gate built during the last restoration, but the original gate, just after the entrance.
In 1966, when he became Ruler of Abu Dhabi, Shaikh Zayed and his family moved to the coast, but the relatives of Shaikha Fatima stayed on until 1982.
In 1998, the palace was restored and also enlarged. The long corridor near the entrance, the administrative area and the Al Nahyan family tree wall feature were added at this time. The 15,635 square metre Al Ain Palace Museum opened to the public in 2001.
‘The palace has five sections: The Shaikha Fatima quarters, the majlis complex, the school, the quarters for the relatives of Shaikha Fatima and the new buildings that were added during a previous restoration in 1988,’ said Al Kaabi.
‘Because it is built at different stages, there are various building materials, from mud and palm wood to stones, metal, even cement. It wasn’t cement like you know it today. In the 1960s, those materials has just started to come out and the local builders didn’t really know how to use it, so what they did was a kind of mix – stone with cement, metal and jas,’ a lime mortar made locally by burning stones, then grinding them. ‘Mostly, though, we found stones.’
Altogether, there are 11 majlis, 37 rooms and two cafes, as well as a large outdoor tent. Among all these rooms there were kitchens, storerooms, coffee-making rooms, guest rooms, bedrooms and living rooms. 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 main 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 was also placed in the main courtyard.
Mostly, 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 used to receive them in a large open tent erected in the main courtyard. This is also where 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 majlis – he received his Western guests in a westernised majlis, which had seats, and the 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. There is no date set yet, but the building needs maintenance, as mud structures deteriorate with time. The plan is also to redesign some aspects of the modern side of the building, in order to add a fresh look and to change the visitors’ experience, without altering the structure of the building or its historical value.
How to get there: Hessa Bint Mohamed St, Al Mutawaa
Entry fee and timings: For free. 8.30am to 7.30pm; Fridays: 3pm to 7.30pm (Mondays closed).
What to do:
1. My Heritage, My Responsibility: Seasonal outdoor programme highlighting different elements of the UAE hospitality, culture and traditions with performances, workshops and a traditional craft market. Dec 7-8, Jan 11-12, 2018, Feb 15-16, 2018.
2. ‘Ramsa’: Weekly community majlis event where Emirati dialect and customs are discussed by experts. Every Sunday until Apr 2018.
3. Handicrafts workshops: Learn to make traditional Emirati Telli (embroidery), Khoos (palm leaf weaving), and Sadu (wool weaving). Every Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday this year.
Al Jahili Fort: the most special of them all
Between the 19th century and 20th century, over a dozen forts were built in the city, but the most famous of them all remains Al Jahili Fort. Its iconic watch tower is now the emblem of Al Ain Sports Club and it’s the symbol of Al Ain bottled water; even the Dh50 note carries a picture of the tower.
Strategically located, Al Jahili is the largest of Al Ain’s forts and one of the UAE’s oldest historical monuments, each of its landlords and occupants adding something to the building, hence its unique architecture. Today, the fort houses exhibitions, including a collection of photographs by the British explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger (affectionately known as ‘Mubarak Bin London’), taken during his two crossing of the Rub’ al Khali in the 1940s (also known as the Empty Quarter, it is the largest continuous sand desert in the world, and covers much of the southern Arabian Peninsula.) A documentary film about Thesiger’s return to Al Ain in 2007 and his reunion with his two Bedouin guides from his journey is screened here exclusively.
‘Al Jahili was built a very long time ago, in 1891, as a summer residence for a royal family. Shaikh Zayed the First [Zayed Bin Khalifa], who was the grandfather of our founder, Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, built it to come here with his family in the summer time. They lived in Abu Dhabi, by the coast, where the humidity is extremely high, and back in those days people used to take refuge in the summer months in the oases, where the weather was drier,’ says Huda Salem Al Musaabi, from the Fort’s media relations team.
‘This area was perfect because less than a kilometre away is the border with Oman and behind us is Al Ain Oasis, the biggest of the seven oases of the city, and in front of us is Al Jahili oasis. Nearby is Al Muwaiji oasis. The area was also well-known because of the falaj, the underground water system that connected the fort all the way to the oasis,’ she adds.
Building Al Jahili fort took nearly eight years; a commemorative plate placed at the main entrance records the date of its completion (Islamic year 1316, 1898) and a short verse of poetry in praise of Shaikh Zayed the First.
‘A door of goodness is opened in glory’s chapter,
Where joy and happiness with high glory reside,
The blessings of honour said “Mark this house,
A house of high standing built by Zayed Bin Khalifa”.’
There are two main structures, the square fort and the round tower. The square, walled structure constitutes the main part of Al Jahili fort, with each side measuring 53 meters long and featuring rifle openings and triangular balconies. Built between 1891 and 1898, the original square fort features circular towers in three of its corners, with a majlis hall in the fourth corner, where the ruler would perform his daily duties, receiving visitors and local citizens in the morning and afternoon.
The round tower is a separate structure, located 50 metres to the north-west. Exhibiting traditional architectural elements, the tower’s four tiers are a design that can be seen in the round tower found at the Hili archaeological site, also in Al Ain, which dates back thousands of years.
The tower is believed to be older than the fort and is thought to have originally been designed as an observation tower that was later fortified to guard and protect the falaj systems and palm groves from potential threats.
Al Jahili Fort’s mosque is believed to have been built at the same time as the fort, between 1891 and 1898. Historical photographs show communities were living near the mosque, in an area where the parks are now located. During recent renovations, the falaj system that provided water for the mosque and surrounding communities was discovered.
‘After Shaikh Zayed The First passed away, in 1909, his son, Shaikh Khalifa, continued to live here for a while, with his family, and farm the area. Eventually, the fort was abandoned. In the 1950s, when the British forces came to Al Ain, they requisitioned the fort as an army base for a unit of Oman Trucial Scouts. They kept the area safe and secured, and helped the local communities with medical services too. They also used the fort as an army training base until the 1970s,’ says Al Musaabi.
‘The Trucial Scouts built a new section, adding kitchens, stores and more rooms for different purposes. They not just trained here, they also lived inside the fort.”
In the 1970s, Al Jahili Fort became even a holiday spot for many UK generals and other top-ranking British army officers, who had been stationed there and returned with their family and children to visit the place, see the changes and remember the days of the Trucial States.
In 1975, the Department of Historical Ruins and Tourism, now part of TCA Abu Dhabi, began restorations on the fort and its use changed once again, as its vast courtyard became a location for cultural events by the 1980s. A second major restoration programme took place in 2007-2008, when specialists took advantaged of the newly discovered falaj running under the fort to build cold water pipes inside the mud-brick walls of the fort as a cooling system.
‘If you touch the walls, they are very cold, so we don’t have to use air conditioning, unless it’s very hot,’ points out Al Musaabi.
After its second restoration, Al Jahili Fort continued its mission as an exhibition centre and cultural venue of Al Ain.
‘In the cooler months we have outdoor events, such as the Abu Dhabi Classics [the annual classical music festival]. One wing of the fort is dedicated to the ‘British Explorer’, a permanent photography exhibition of Sir Wilfred Thesiger. He made a beautiful photographic documentary about this area and about how he met Shaikh Zayed and his brother, Shaikh Shakhboot, who was the Ruler of Abu Dhabi before Shaikh Zayed, and he also took beautiful pictures from his travels over the Empty Quarters, Oman and Yemen. He also took photographs of historical buildings in Al Ain, such as Al Muwaiji Palace,’.
“The interesting thing about Thesiger is that he really tried to live like a Bedouin. He was barefoot all the time, he wore kandoora like them, he was carrying a rifle, walking across the desert rather than riding the camels, he memorised the prayer call, he also learnt the day’s routine – when and how to make coffee, to sit and chat, how they survived the desert hardship, how to take care of camels and what people suffered most from in those days,’ she adds.
Thesiger never stayed there, but he took a picture of Al Jahili Fort in 1948 as he was passing by.
There is also an exhibition dedicated to Shaikh Zayed the First and his living quarters, including a display on how mud and straw were used as construction materials in his time.
How to get there: Sultan Bin Zayed Al Awwal St, Al Mutawaa.
Entry fee and timings: For free. Daily except Mondays, from 9am-5pm; Fridays: 3pm-5pm.
What to do:
1. Trucial Scouts: Life and Times Exhibition: a journey through a collection of artefacts on loan from the Armed Forces Museum & Military History Center in Abu Dhabi, from the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. These artefacts are testimony to the historic Trucial Scouts that was formed in 1951 by royal order of the British Crown. Until Apr 26, 2018.
2. National Day Celebration: Dec 2, 2017.
3. Handicrafts Workshops: Every Tuesday - year long.
4. Military Band Performance: Every Thursday from December 14, 2017-Apr 2018.
5. Police Dog Show: Every Wednesday until Apr 2018.
