Wednesday 15 / January / 2025
Muttrah: Bait Al Barandah in the Wilayat of Muttrah in the Governorate of Muscat one of the historical and archaeological sites which is overseen by Muscat Municipality.
It is located about 300 metres from Sultan Qaboos Tourist Port and 150 metres from Al Sahli beach. The word “Al Barandah” is of Latin origin and means “Al Shorfah”(Balcony). The merchant Naseeb ibn Muhammad built the house in the late 19th century, named it “Bait Al Barandah” and made it the seat of his second residence.
It was named at that time Beit Naseeb or Beit Al Nassib. Over the years, the building was used in more than one way by more than one entity. Today it has become one of the most important historical and tourist attractions in the Wilayat of Muttrah, after its renovation and development by the Muscat Municipality.
It was officially inaugurated in December 2006 under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Minister of Heritage and Culture.
In 1909, the American Mission rented the “Bait Al Barandah” to be its headquarters until 1933. The British Council also rented the house and renovated it.
The renovation included the allocation of classrooms, a library hall, administration offices and other annexes. In 1979, Bait Al Barandah was nominated for Aga Khan architectural award.
In the period from 1984 to 1989, the building was rented by one of the engineering consultancy offices. It then remained empty until the Ministry of Heritage and Culture maintained and restored it.
In 2004, it was handed over to Muscat Municipality, which turned it into a tourist centre after it was supplied with many tourist and historical elements and opened its doors to visitors from inside and outside the Sultanate.
The visitor to Bait Al Barandah can identify all the historical periods that the Sultanate has undergone.
This historical and cultural architectural landmark provides modern technological means to provide detailed information about the history of the region.
It also contains many references needed by researchers, historians and university, institutes and school’s students as it tells us the cultural history of the early inhabitants of the Sultanate and how they lived using the appropriate conditions and tools for that.
Malik bin Fahmy Al Hinai, Supervisor of Bait Al Barandah at Muscat Municipality said that Bait Al Barandah consists of a number of halls, including the Old Wildlife Hall, which includes a number of drawings of the ancient wildlife found in the City of Muscat, the “Geological Diversity Hall” which shows the different shapes, colours and amazing diversity of the natural formations in Muscat, Tectonic Plates Hall which provides a scene of the movement of continents and tectonic plates, “Oldest Human Settlements Hall, a model that simulates the traditional way of the first man in the construction of houses in the past, Glimpses of the History of Oman Hall, where the visitor recognises how the first human settlement in the Governorates of Dhofar and Al Wusta before more than one million years, in addition to the maritime history of Oman and its trade with the civilisation of Ur and Sumer in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley of India and others.
The “Travellers’ Hall” presents with video and audio what some orientalists said about the City of Muscat, Muscat Hall from the first century AD to 1744 , Al Busaid State Hall describes the history of Al Busaid Dynasty, which was founded in 1744. -ONA
The visitor comes to know about the history of this family, the importance of the port of Muscat since the sixteenth century AD and Muscat during the blessed Renaissance, “Muscat Port Hall” includes a number of drawings illustrating the old trade roads, the international competition for the port of Muscat, in addition to the history of the port, Muscat today Hall shows the great achievement enjoyed by the capital city of Oman, and the “Traditional Arts Hall” presents models of various traditional Omani arts.
In addition to the tourist and cultural contents, the Municipality of Muscat, represented by Bait Al Barandah , organizes in summer every year workshops in cooperation with the students of colleges and schools in order to convey the municipality’s message in preserving environmental facilities, as well as using the participants’ leisure time, refinement of their skills. Among these workshop are (recycling, clay world, doll industry, paper world) and others.
A number of fine arts exhibitions are held at Bait Al Barandah, where more than 100 art exhibitions were held for Omani artists, as well as more than 50 international exhibitions from around the world.
