Mutrah Fort

Mutrah Fort, sometimes also spelled as Muttrah, lies in the town of the same name in the Muscat Governorate in Oman.

It is thought that either the Portuguese built 2 towers on this rocky outcrop as part of Muscat's defense system around 1575, or that the towers were originally built by the Omanis around 1507. Later, the Portuguese strengthened the fortification by connecting the towers with curtain walls, turning it into a fort. The fort was aided in its defense by 8 watchtowers situated on the rocky outcrops around it, each strategically located so that shelling from the fort could destroy any tower in the event of capture.

The fort has an elongated shape as it follows the shape of the rock on which it was built.

Mutrah Fort fell twice to Ottoman invasion by the admirals Piri Reis and Ali Beg in the late 1500s. The Omanis took the fort in the 1640s, which was a key point in expelling the Portuguese from Oman in 1650.

The fort, which had long guarded the important harbor of Mutrah, was restored in the 1980s.

Mutrah Fort can be visited for a small fee. There is a small café within its walls, although this was closed when I visited. A very nice fort. The Sur Al Lawatia Tower is close by, as is the atmospheric souq of Mutrah.

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