Architectural, Cultural sights in Dubai
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A
Sheikh Saeed Al-Maktoum House
The grand courtyard house of Sheikh Saeed, the grandfather of current Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed, is the crown jewel of the restored Shindagha Heritage Area. Built in 1896, under Sheikh Maktoum bin Hasher al-Maktoum, the house was home to the ruling family until Sheikh Saeed’s death in 1958. Aside from being an architectural marvel, the building now doubles as a museum of pre-oil times, with a neat collection of photographs of Dubai taken in the 1940s and ’50s on the Creek, in the souqs and at traditional celebrations. Other rooms feature coins, stamps and documents dating back as far as 1791, as well as an interesting display on pearl diving.
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B
Majlis Ghorfat Um-al-Sheef
It is unusual to find a traditional building still standing so far from the Creek, but this one has been well restored and is worth a quick stop. The two-storey structure was built in 1955 as a summer residence of the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed al-Maktoum. Made of gypsum and coral rock with a palm frond roof and a wind tower, it provided a cool retreat from the heat. The palm tree garden features a traditional falaj irrigation system. The actual majlis (meeting room) upstairs is decorated with cushions, rugs, a coffee pot, pottery and food platters, and is pretty close to the way it would have looked in Sheikh Rashid’s day.
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C
Al-Ahmadiya School
Dubai’s first school was founded by the pearl merchant Sheikh Ahmed bin Dalmouk and welcomed its first students, all boys, in 1912. You can see the original classroom where they squeezed behind wooden desks to learn the Holy Quran, grammar, Arabic calligraphy, mathematics, literature and astronomy. Otherwise, exhibits are pretty basic but the building itself is not: note the exquisite detail, especially the intricate carving within the courtyard arches and the decorative gypsum panels outside the entrance. It remained in use as a school until the student body outgrew the premises in 1963.
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D
Heritage House
This renovated 1890 courtyard house once belonged to Sheikh Ahmed bin Dalmouk, the founder of Al-Ahmadiya School, and offers a rare opportunity to peek inside a wealthy pearl merchant’s residence. Built from coral and gypsum, its rooms wrap around a central courtyard flanked by verandahs to keep direct sunlight out. Videos set up in several rooms highlight various aspects of daily life, including the types of traditional games children once played in the courtyard.
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