Nizwa Fort

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingNizwa is definitely a must stop for all those who are travelling to Oman. Not only the city itself has a great fort and bustling souqs but the surrounding area of Nizwa is just amazing. I personally think three days are not enough. I must come here again.

Nizwa was the traditional capital of Oman. Its strategic location being the meeting point from Muscat to Dhofar and also the meeting point for the Bedouins fromthe surrounding sand makes it an ideal point of trading.

The main attraction in Nizwa is the humungus fort. It is afterall the biggest fort in the whole of Arabia Peninsula. The main tower measures at 50m in diameter. Built in the 17th century, it took 12 years to have it complete. The walls are rounded and robust, designed to withstand fierce barrages of mortar fire — a common feature of warfare in those times.

Nizwa architecture and defense strategy are fantastic. It reflects the military engineering prowess of fort-builders of a bygone time. To go up the the fort one has to access a narrow steep set of stairs which has many doors in between. The traditional doors are inches deep and over the lintel of each is a hole through which boiling oil could be poured over the marauding enemies. Those who did manage to run the gauntlet of hurdles risked being scalded by boiling oil or water that was poured through shafts (called machicolations), which opened directly above each set of doors. Date syrup, a liquid that oozed from bags of dates stored in special date cellars, also came in handy as an alternative to oil and water.

According to historians, a great deal of ingenuity went into the design of the citadel. It was built above a subterranean stream that ensured a perennial supply of water when subjected to a prolonged siege. Several water wells located within the fortified compound also ensured plentiful supplies. Underground cellars stockpiled food and munitions.

Nizwa fort was the primary seat of the imamate, serving as a combination palace, seat of government and prison and holding sway over the country's coasts. One can get a great view of this small city, nestled among date palm plantations, from the fort's tower. In the back of the fort is a garden and its falaj irrigation system, a method locally developed and used in southeast Arabia since the Iron Age, around 3000 years ago.