Zubarah Town ruins — Attraction in Ash Shamal

Al zubara the town in which Al Zubara Fort is situated, is a deserted town located on the northwestern coast of the Qatari Peninsula, in the municipality of Al Shamal, which in turn, is about 105 km from Doha, the capital city and state of Qatar (The geography of both Zubarah and Al Zubara Fort are the same since the latter is located in Zubarah). Zubarah covers an area of approximately 400 hectares and about 60 hectares inside the outer town wall. Zubarah as a whole is the largest archaeological site in the whole Qatari Peninsula.

It was once a thriving pearl fishing and trading port positioned midway between the Strait of Hormuz and the west arm of the Persian Gulf. It is one of the largest and best preserved examples of an 18th-19th century merchant town in the Persian Gulf region. The entire layout and urban fabric of a settlement dating to this formative period in the region have been preserved. The Zubarah archaeological site provides an important insight into urban life, spatial organization, and the social and economic history of the Persian Gulf before the discovery of oil and gas in the...

Al Zubarah has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2013. The site, located approximately 100 km northwest of Doha, stretches 2.5 km from the Al Zubarah Fort to the coast. Founded in the mid-eighteenth century, the town developed into the country’s largest and most important settlement. Its success attracted the attention of other Gulf powers, and after several attacks the town was burned to the ground in 1811. By the first decades of the 20th century, it was abandoned. Today, the site covers an area of 60 hectares with remains of houses, masajid (mosques), madabis (date presses), large fortified buildings, and a market.

Once a thriving pearl fishing town and trading port, Al Zubarah is now Qatar’s largest heritage site, with an impressive city wall, ancient residential palaces and houses, markets, industrial areas...

You can get here by normal car. Waze took me straight to the fort. I didnt realise there was a bus that takes you to see the ruins which i believe are every hour. Though it took us sooner as there were a few of us waiting. We were accompanied by a tour guide who talked us through how people in the village used to live. You have the option of doing a longer walk around the ruins which i think would be 50 mins. You are then taken by bus to the palace. The fort had been restored and was interesting to walk around. It was interesting to see. It surprised me that it was free they only needed to know if we were...