Mezyad Fort

Mezyad Fort, sometimes also spelled Mazyad, lies southwest of the village with the same name, in the emirate of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. It is situated beneath the Jebel Hafeet mountain and only some 650 meters from the border with Oman.

I could only find scarce historical information about the fort. It was probably built somewhere during the 19th century. During the 20th century it was supposedly used as a police station and border post. During the 1950s it was garrisoned by the Trucial Oman Scouts. If you know anything more, please mail me.

Mezyad Fort is a big square fort with round towers on 3 of its corners. It was built out of mud bricks and cob, palm tree trunks were used for ceilings and gypsum for details. Against the inner side of the curtain walls are a large number of rooms, probably for storage. In the 1980s it was restored and then was incorporated into Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan’s farm. At that time the courtyard of the fort was transformed into a date palm plantation.

At present Mezyad Fort is not accessible. Online I read that it could be visited for free, but only after a prior appointment. But I could not find out with whom that appointment then should be made. Too bad, I would have liked to visit the interior of this big fort.

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