Oman stories…
Bahla, (Arabic: بهلا), is a UNESCO World Heritage Site town, located 40 km away from Nizwa, and about 200 km from Oman’s capital Muscat which lies in the Ad Dakhiliyah region of Oman. It is notable as the home of one of the oldest fortress in the country, the 13th century Bahla Fort and for the town’s pottery.
On our November/ December trip to Oman, during the long 10 journey from Duqm to Dubai, I marked Bahla as a stopping point for a break from the endless roads.
Having touched on the outskirts on a previous trip, I knew we had missed the point of Bahla and had to revisit to find the heart of this old, historical fortress town. I wasn’t disappointed, it’s a unique place.
Walk with me through the old town, the historical value of the architecture is immense. It’s stunning, but even though it’s a Unesco site, I could see that more funding is needed to maintain this unique and ancient city. I arrived in the hours before sunset and carefully picked my way around the old town over the uneven terrain.
The atmosphere enveloped me, a truly unique place and I hope you enjoy my walk. I still have to re-visit as I didn’t manage to have time to find the potteries.
Please hover over the photographs for the captions to take you through Bahla.
Bahla fort, guarding the pass…
Angles and faces of the fort…
An impressive view looking up from the car park…
The modern building at the base, very nice to catch if you love doors…
Heading into the old town…
And as you find your way in, this divine little door greets you…
Some of the old houses are occupied, a modern take on the old doors..
Heading into the old alleys, I looked back and caught this door…
Winding past the mud-brick houses…
Curves, narrow alleys, doors…you can imagine this place in years past…
Metal work doors, turned pastel by the elements…
Stairs to where? At the top, only a collapsing room…
I think there would have been a door under this arch in past times…
Certainly an old door, check out the lintel…
But this is a modern addition, proving current life in this old city…
Through those doors, where do those stairs go?
I just loved this door at the top of the city, but there was no way I could edit out the rubbish.
The face of the fort as the sun was dropping down…
Door, wall and window, loved it…
The sun highlighting some doors, need to head on down…
Ok, so this a door that really catches my eye…
And, well, yes, very cute…
These I love, some real wood in town…
Who can’t love a heart door? …
And this heart door was just lying sideways on the ground, I was severely tempted to take them with me, but a car full of camping gear, shells and general junk, hmm, I was disallowed to profit from this find!
And another heart door…
Around every corner another door to find…
No hearts here…
And the last one before we headed back to the car and the journey home, who could resist this one ?
Following the sunset west on the drive home…
A link for Bahla windows…
Taking part in Thursday Doors a weekly event hosted by Norm Frampton. Pop on over and check out some more doors this week…
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Some absolute beauties. This place is amazing, some of it looks downright ancient – so much history.
Wonderful post 🙂
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Thanks, Norm, it was another amazing Omani place to lose yourself into the history and also to find doors!
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So typical Arabic doors!
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Such decorative doors and gates. Lovely photos.
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Amazing historic doors. The ironwork on them is beautiful. 🙂
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They’re all so unfathomable to me. I’ve never seen anything like that in person. The homes are beautiful, and the gates always win me over. Just beautiful.
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Yes, I feel I have to record them on every trip, they may not be there next time given the apparent lack of funding for these historic places. Hopefully, I’m playing a small part in their online history. for the future…
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Such diversity in these doors, however the heart motif is ever present. A nice group of doors here.
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Wow — gorgeous shots!
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These doors look so old and mystic. We recently got back from a trip to Morocco and the architecture is quite similar there
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What an amazing collection of (mostly) old and new. My favorite is the first green door you shared, but they all have timeless beauty.
janet
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Extremely irresistible, agreed! 🙂
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Great stuff! Nice seeing these collection of doors.
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