Jabrin Castle

The Jabrin Castle is a residential fortress that was built in 1670 by Sultan bin Saif al-Ya'arubi. What visitors find on-site is more than just another fort or a small pre-Islamic fortress, like many can be found in Oman. The residential fortress of Jabrin can rightly be referred to as a castle. The old mud palace offers a whole range of interesting and unexpected sights and anecdotes about its builder and the people who once lived here.

Already special in its construction

Barely another fortress in Oman can showcase such precision and grace in the design of its decorations. The arabesques on the windows of the fortress look as if they have just sprung from a fairy tale of 1001 Nights. In this fortress, one can easily recognize the significant difference between the traditional old European construction style of such structures and the Arabic: it is the playful shapes and soft transitions that make these defensive structures so beautifully and timelessly elegant. This is also true for the curved arches, wooden galleries, and painted ceilings inside Jabrin Castle. The design of the stairs inside the castle is also interesting: the steps on the staircase to the first floor are remarkably flat. This is because these steps were also meant to be easily climbed by a horse. When the Sultan received guests here, he always had his finest horse presented in his reception hall, which was located on the first floor. This was how he wanted to impress his guests. On the second floor, one would have found the Quran school and the mosque of the fortress at that time. Some stairways inside Jabrin Castle are designed to symbolically guide visitors through the seven heavens of the Islamic faith.

Even today a real attraction

The kitchen on the ground floor was designed to easily serve the more than 300 residents of the castle. The complete restoration and elaborate renovation of the old fortress took until 1984, since then it has once again been shining in its former glory. For anyone who wants to dive into a good piece of Arab history for a few hours and gain an impression of how the rich and powerful lived in the Arab world in the 17th century, a visit to Jabrin Castle is definitely a must.