Al Hayl Castle

Al Hayl Fort is located in the Wadi Hayl, to the West of Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates. Constructed in 1932 by Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamdan Al Sharqi, the fort formed his principle residence for the following two decades. Consisting of a fortified courtyard house and an associated watchtower with commanding views to the East and West of Wadi Hayl, Al Hayl Fort overlooks the old village of Al Hayl, of which many buildings have now been restored. The village was abandoned in the late 1970s following the resettlement of its inhabitants to a new village further down the wadi, a seasonal watercourse, and protected by the Al Hayl Dam.

The village was traditionally settled by members of the Kunud tribe (In 1908, Lorimer described the village, which he named 'Hail' as being located 'inside the hills behind Fujairah' and consisting of 'around ten houses of Jalajilah and Kunud'), with evidence that the area has been settled since the Umm Al Nar period, with Umm Al Nar tombs and Iron Age petroglyphs both found in the area. A number of these are now being threatened by ongoing construction in the area.

Text adapted from “Al Hayl Fort” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Al Hayl Castle ranks #6,387 of 7,044 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #12 of the 18 mapped in United Arab Emirates. Founded 1830, it is older than 10% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 496 atlas entries founded in the 19th century. See how United Arab Emirates compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗