Key UAE historic site used for launch of UK-UAE Year of Culture

Al Jahili Fort, in the UAE's inland oasis-city of Al Ain, which is the site this evening of the launching of the UK-UAE Year of Culture 2017 by the heir to the British throne, HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, is one of the most important historical monuments in the United Arab Emirates.

Construction of the fort, made of mud-brick, was initiated in 1891 by Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi from 1855-1909. It was completed in 1898 and includes two main sections, a square fort and a four-storey circular tower, set in a large courtyard. A plaque at the main entrance commemorates the date of its completion. An adjacent mosque is believed to have been constructed around the same time.

The tower is believed to be older than the fort and is thought to have originally been designed as an observation tower that was later fortified to guard and protect the palm groves and associated falaj, or irrigation systems. The tower is illustrated on the AED50 banknote.

The square structure constitutes the main part of Al Jahili fort, with each side measuring 53 metres and featuring rifle openings and triangular balconies. There are circular towers at three of its corners, with a Majlis hall in the fourth corner where the Sheikh would perform his daily duties, receiving visitors and local citizens in the morning and afternoon.

Al Jahili was long used as a summer residence for Abu Dhabi's ruling Al Nahyan family.

Between 1955 and 1971, the fort was the headquarters of the British-officered Trucial Oman Scouts, a small military unit which helped to maintain security in the country and which was the origins of today's UAE Armed Forces. In 1975, a programme of restoration began, and, following the completion of that in the early 1980s, Al Jahili began to be used as a centre for cultural events.

Following a subsequent refurbishment, involving traditional techniques such as palm fronds and the use of natural forms of temperature regulation, Al Jahili has become a museum that offers visitors the opportunity to learn about its past and its importance within local society and culture.

In addition to its information centre, there is also a permanent exhibition devoted to the British explorer, Sir Wilfred Thesiger.

Thesiger, best-known for his epic of Arabian travel, 'Arabian Sands', first visited Al Ain in the late 1940s, becoming a close friend of the founding father of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who was then the Representative of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi in the eastern region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, covering the Al Ain area. Thesiger became known as Mubarak bin London, a name recalled in the name of the exhibition, 'Mubarak bin London: Wilfred Thesiger and the Freedom of the Desert'.

The exhibition includes a selection of Thesiger's historic black-and-white photographs of life in the UAE around 70 years ago – a way of life that has long since vanished, but which is cherished as part of the ancient heritage of the people of the United Arab Emirates.