Bahrain · 17th century
Riffa Fort (Arabic: قلعة الرفاع, romanized: Qal'at ar-Rifa') also known as, Shaikh Salman bin Ahmed Fateh Fort or Qal'at ar-Riffa, is a fort in Riffa, Bahrain. The fort is situated on a cliff overlooked the desert valley between East Riffa and West Riffa.
In the early 18th century, a fort was built here by Fareer bin Rahhal. Over time, the fort fell and only the foundation remained. Later, during the reign of Sheikh Salman bin Ahmed Al Fateh Al Khalifa, he rebuilt the fort using the existing foundation in 1812. The fort was used for defense and the residence of Shaikh Salman bin Al Fateh.
In the 19th century the fort was a residence for Sheikh Salman bin Ahmed Al Fateh and then it was inherited by his grand children. Sheikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa, who ruled Bahrain from 1869 to 1932, was born in this fort.
Text adapted from “Riffa Fort” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Riffa Fort ranks #2,901 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #3 of the 4 mapped in Bahrain. Founded c. 1650, it is older than 25% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 721 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,061 times in the last 60 days, more than 52% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Manama, 11 km away. See how Bahrain compares in the castle statistics.
View on the interactive castle map →