CugelVance

Germany - 16-Jun-24 -

Of the four components of the tentative WHS "Trading town of Julfar", I only visited the old town of the Emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah, where the Sheikh Al Quasimi Mosque is located, the National Museum of Ras Al-Khaimah, and the port area.

I visited that area in february 2023 after I had visited another nearby tentative whs site,the Jazīrat al Ḩamrā pearling town.

I took the bus from Jazeera al-Hamra bus stop and got off at the  Corniche Al Qasimi bus stop.I walked along the entire beach promenade to the end and then turned left to the National Museum. The beach promenade was pretty empty as the locals usually only go there around 6/7 p.m. when the sun has become milder. But that day it was only moderately hot. There are numerous cafes, fast food shops and other establishments on the promenade .It took me about an hour to walk to the National Museum, which turned out to be only moderately interesting. Lots of human-sized dolls, little didactic work, poorly explained exhibits. From there I walked to the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Salim Al Qasimi Mosque.

The Sheikh Mohammed bin Salem Al Qasimi Mosque, called the Grand Mosque, is one of the oldest and largest mosques in the city of Ras Al Khaimah. This mosque was built by Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr I in the old town of Ras Al Khaimah, which overlooks a high hill on the Arabian Gulf coast and lies north of Fareej Al Ali.

Excavations revealed the presence of an earlier mosque, dating back to the second half of the 18th century ( Historical records indicate a mosque was at this place since the 16th century) With respect to the later 18th century mosque, excavations revealed that it was destroyed during the British occupation in 1819/20 and that a new mosque was built on its foundations. 

I entered the mosque but didnt encounter a single soul.....I sat down there and enjoyed the quietness of that old mosque.After 10 minutes I left the mosque and was greeted by an indian or bengali worker at the exit.

Worth a short visit, but nothing from another dimension. Then I walked through the Ras al-Khaimah old town( I didnt see a single local there,only indians and bengali or pakistani people) with its few pakistani and indian shops.The old town looked quite run-down with its semi-abandoned houses and dirty alleys.A mildy interesting area. I then reached the beach promenade(corniche) again and walked along it until I reached the bus stop "Corniche" from where I took a direct bus back to Dubai.