Round towers
Three round, one square.
Florian Kriechbaumer — CC BY-SA 4.0 · NAVEEN SHARAF A — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marcky30 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Leon petrosyan — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cenpellegrini — CC BY-SA 4.0 · NAVEEN SHARAF A — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Clémence Jacqueri — CC BY-SA 4.0 · SHUHAIB MUSTHAFA — CC BY-SA 4.0
A sixteenth-century fort in old Fujairah, on a rocky hill about 20 metres high, two kilometres from the modern city centre and one from the coast. It is among the oldest and largest forts in the UAE. Three round towers and a square one guard it, joined by walls around a central hall; its irregular shape follows the uneven surface of the rock beneath. It was built of local materials: stone, gravel, mud, straw and plaster. The fort was used as a prison into the twentieth century. In 1925 a British naval bombardment destroyed three of its towers, and it lay abandoned until 1997, when the Fujairah government restored it. Old houses and a mosque surround it in a heritage area. Check opening times and fees locally. The hill is exposed, so mornings or the hour before sunset, when the fort is lit, are best.
Three round, one square.
Old houses and a mosque.
The fort lit up.
Old Fujairah, about 2 km from the city centre
It was abandoned after a 1925 British naval bombardment destroyed three towers, and the Fujairah government restored it from 1997.