#nizwa

Oman

One of the oldest cities in Oman and a former capital.

The Prophet Muhammad sent a letter to the citizens of Nizwa inviting them to join the Islamic faith. The city sent a delegation to Madinah and ended up converting. This made Oman one of the few places to convert voluntarily.

The center of the city is the Nizwa Fort, dating to the 1600s. It is a large circular drum shape.

The palace dating to about the same time is immediately adjacent to the fort. Also adjacent is the main mosque.

The Nizwa Souq (market) is one of the nicest ones I have seen. The souq complex has a series of traditional-style buildings, each with a particular market: dates, fruits and vegetables, spices, silver and other metalwork, crafts, and goats.

The date market is a great place to buy dates. They have a dozen different varieties of dates, plus more processed dates like stuffed, chocolate-covered, date cookies, etc.

The spice market has a great variety of spices, incense, nuts, and such. They are displayed without the extreme flair of more touristy markets.

The Goat Market is particularly noteworthy. On Friday mornings, farmers bring livestock to this market for sale. Most of the livestock is goats, but cattle and camels were also present.

It's lively and popular with both the buyers and sellers and onlookers.

Nizwa, Oman

Oman Across Ages Museum by COX Architecture

Photograph: Sami Khamis Sanjor Al Qawal/World Architecture Festival