Unspecified/General

Qasr Al Hosn is the oldest standing structure in Abu Dhabi, with origins dating to a circular watchtower built around 1761 to defend the freshwater well that first attracted Bani Yas tribal settlement to the island. The original tower was expanded into a small fort during the 1790s by Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab Al Nahyan, and grew progressively under successive rulers into the white-walled Inner Fort that became the seat of Al Nahyan family governance and residence of Abu Dhabi's rulers until 1966. The Outer Palace surrounding the Inner Fort was added between 1939 and 1945 by Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan Al Nahyan, providing additional living quarters, majlis spaces and storage. After major conservation work that began in 2007, the complex reopened to the public as a museum in December 2018 following an 11-year restoration project led by the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi. The Inner Fort houses exhibitions on the Al Nahyan ruling family, including original ceremonial swords, illuminated Qurans, the marriage agreements of past rulers and photographs documenting daily life in the 1950s and 1960s. The Outer Palace galleries cover the broader social history of Abu Dhabi from its pre-oil era through to the foundation of the United Arab Emirates in 1971, with rotating special exhibitions drawing on the national archive. The House of Artisans, a separate building on the Qasr Al Hosn site, hosts live demonstrations of traditional Emirati crafts including sadu weaving, talli embroidery and khoos palm-frond weaving by Emirati artisans trained through the Cultural Foundation programmes. The Cultural Foundation building, originally opened in 1981 and renovated in 2018, completes the cultural precinct with libraries, performance spaces, art galleries and a children's library. Guided tours run daily in Arabic and English, and the surrounding open plaza hosts free public events including the annual Qasr Al Hosn Festival each February throughout the cooler months. Admission tickets are sold per adult and per child with discounted rates for UAE residents on production of an Emirates ID.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum Street, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Telephone: +971 600 565566

Website: https://qasralhosn.ae/

Opening Date: 01/01/1761