Al Zubara Fort

History

Following the 1937 Qatari–Bahraini conflict, Al Zubara Fort was built by Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani in 1938 to serve as a Coast Guard station, although some claim that it was built to serve as a police station. It was built partially from the remnants of the ruined Qal'at Murair, which it effectively replaced. 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, which in turn is located on the northwestern coast of the Qatari Peninsula in the Al Shamal municipality, and is about 105 km north of Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Structure

Al Zubara Fort has a square courtyard surrounded by walls on all sides. The walls are 1 m thick and were built by stacking pieces of coral rock and limestone using mud as a mortar, then coating the stack in a gypsum-based plaster. Three of the fort's corners have round towers with Qatari-style battlements whilst the fourth has a rectangular tower with machicolations. There's a 15 m 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

References

1. "Qatar Tourism Authority — Forts". Qatartourism.gov.qa.
2. "Al Zubarah Fort :: Qatar Visitor". Qatarvisitor.com.
3. (14 December 2020). "Bordering Zubara: Oil Politics, the 1937 Qatari–Bahraini Conflict, and the Making of a Modern Arabian (Persian) Gulf Borderland". Journal of Borderlands Studies.
4. (15 March 2022). "Bahrain vs Qatar: Examining the viability of Arbitration and Mediation in International Territorial Disputes". The Centre for Middle East Studies, Haryana.
5. "Major Museums & Forts". Qatarembassy.net.