Falaj Al Mualla is the inland oasis town of

Umm Al Quwain Umm Al Quwain (UAQ; Arabic: أم القيوين, pronounced: /ʔumː alqejˈwejn/, Gulf Arabic: �ʊm͜ː 'æl ge̞ˈwe̞n) is the capital and largest city of the Emirate of Umm Al Quwain in the United Arab Emirates. The city is situated on t ...

, one of the seven emirates which comprise the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Originally called Falaj Al Ali, after the Al Ali tribe which settled Umm Al Quwain, Falaj Al Mualla is located some 30 km inland of the city of Umm Al Quwain. It was settled approximately at the same time as the Al Ali moved from the island of Sinniyah to the mainland after water supplies on the island were exhausted. Falaj Al Mualla is notable for its fort and also three watchtowers (east, west and north), which guard the fertile ''

wadi Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...

''. It is also the site of a bathing house, built in the early 19th century – as was the fort – by the Ruler of Umm Al Quwain,

Abdullah bin Rashid Al Mualla Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashid Al Mualla was the Ruler of Umm Al Quwain from 1820 to 1853. The head of the Al Ali tribe, he was signatory to both the 1820 General Maritime Treaty with the British and the 1853 Perpetual Maritime Truce, making Umm ...

. The construction of the fort has been dated back to 1825.

History

The east and west towers underwent renovation in 2007 and restoration of the fort was started in 2009, a process completed in 2015. The bathing house was restored in 2014. The fort today houses Falaj Al Mualla museum.

Date palms

A fertile area, irrigated by

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...

s flowing down from the

Hajar Mountains The Hajar Mountains (, ''The Rock (geology), Rocky Mountains'' or ''The Stone Mountains'') are one of the highest mountain ranges in the Arabian Peninsula, shared between northern Oman and eastern United Arab Emirates. Also known as "Oman Mounta ...

, Falaj Al Mualla has long been associated with farming, with some 60 families traditionally making a living from the 5,000 date palms in the oasis. The agricultural trial station at Digdaga, established in 1955, maintained five acres of experimental pasture in the area and Falaj Al Mualla was the site of the first poultry farm in the UAE.

References

Populated places in Umm Al Quwain {{UnitedArabEmirates-geo-stub