Bahrain · 15th century
Arad Fort (Arabic: قلعة عراد, Qal'at 'Arad) is a 15th-century fort in Arad, Bahrain. Formerly guarding a separate island of its own, the fort and its surroundings have since been joined to Muharraq Island through land reclamation.
Arad Fort was built in the typical style of Islamic forts during the 15th century before the Portuguese invasion of Bahrain in AD 1622. This fort has a beautiful history. A few feuds between the Islamic divisions of Bahrain have taken place here. This fort is one of the compact defensive forts in Bahrain. In its present location, it overlooks various sea passages of Muharraq's shallow seashores. In the past, there was an inaccessible marine channel which was controlled by the local people to prevent ships from breaking through to the island where the fort is located. The fort is square and on every corner there is a cylindrical tower. It is surrounded by a small trench which used to be filled with water from wells that were drilled especially for this purpose. In every corner of the upper wall of the fort there are nose shaped openings for marksmen.
Close to the Bahrain International Airport, the fort has been extensively restored and is illuminated at night. Traditional materials have been used in the restoration and maintenance of the fort after making extensive analysis of the original materials such as sea stones, lime, sand, and palm trunks. No cement or any other materials which are not in harmony with the historical building or which reduce its historical value have not been used.
Text adapted from “Arad Fort” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Arad Fort ranks #2,830 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #2 of the 4 mapped in Bahrain. Founded c. 1500, it is older than 43% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 554 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Manama, 6 km away. See how Bahrain compares in the castle statistics.
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