Al Zubara Fort (), also known as Fort Zubarah, Zubarah Fort, Al Zubarah Fort, or Az Zubarah Fort, is a historic

Qatari Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares its sole land border with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the ...

military fortress built under the oversight of Sheikh

Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani (), also known as Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani or Sheikh Abdullah bin Qassim Al Thani, was the Emir of Qatar from 1913 to 1949. Oil was discovered in Qatar for the first time during his rule. ...

in 1938.

History

Al Zubara Fort was originally built by Sheikh

in 1938 to serve as a Coast Guard station, although some claim that it was built to serve as a police station. It was later converted into a museum to display diverse exhibits and artwork, especially for contemporarily topical archaeological findings.

Geography

Al Zubara Fort is situated in the ancient town of

Zubarah Zubarah (), also referred to as Al Zubarah or Az Zubarah, is a ruined, ancient town located on the northwestern coast of the Qatar peninsula in the Al Shamal municipality, about from the capital Doha. It was founded by Shaikh Muhammed bin Khal ...

, which in turn is located on the northwestern coast of the Qatari Peninsula in the

Al Shamal Al Shamal () is a municipality in Qatar. Its seat is Madinat ash Shamal and it is considered to be one of the major cities in Qatar, although its population is barely over 7,000. The seat's name translates to "city of the north". Ras Rakan, t ...

municipality, and is about north of

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, the capital of Qatar.

Structure

Al Zubara Fort has a square courtyard surrounded by walls on all sides. The walls are thick and were built by stacking pieces of coral rock and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

using mud as a mortar, then coating the stack in a

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

-based plaster. Three of the fort's corners have round towers with Qatari-style battlements whilst the fourth has a rectangular tower with

machicolation In architecture, a machicolation () is an opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement through which defenders could target attackers who had reached the base of the defensive wall. A smaller related structure that only protects key ...

s. There's a deep well in the courtyard. Eight rooms on the ground floor, which originally housed soldiers, are now used to house exhibits.

Gallery

File:AbirJaberPhotos1.jpg, Al Zubarah Fort File:Qatar, Zubarah (6), fort.JPG, Restoration activities in 2015 at the fort File:AbirJaberPhotos2.jpg, Al Zubarah Fort File:HAR10278 (3).jpg, Al Zubarah Fort

References

External links