Al Bastakiya, Dubai

Al Bastakiya, Dubai

If you would like to get in touch with the past and see how Dubai was before the skyscrapers dominated the Emirate, go to Al Bastakiya along Dubai Creek.

This is an historic district and the oldest residential area in Dubai. It was built in the eighteen nineties with 60 houses, narrow lanes and marvelous wind towers. The unique thing about the area is that the people living there judged the wealth of their neighbors by the number of wind towers they possessed. It was once a residential area for rich merchants until the discovery of oil. The rich merchants moved away and the houses were taken over by expatriate workers.

In the nineteen seventies, half of the buildings were demolished to make room for an office complex and the rest became dilapidated, except for the Majlis Arts and Crafts Centre. The wind towers were used as warehouses. In 1989 the rest of the buildings were going to be demolished, but the timely intervention of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, saved them.

He asked for them to be preserved, pointing out that they would be a powerful tourist attraction. Restoration work was carried out by the Dubai Municipality, ending in 2005. Nowadays the buildings house art galleries of local and Persian art and cafés.

Shaikh Muhammad Center for Cultural Understanding, a non-profit organization is located in Al Bastakiya. The purpose of creating this organization was to establish a relationship of culture between the people of Dubai.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Dubai. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

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Al Bastakiya on Map

Sight Name: Al Bastakiya
Sight Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates (See walking tours in Dubai)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark

Walking Tours in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Create Your Own Walk in Dubai

Create Your Own Walk in Dubai

Creating your own self-guided walk in Dubai is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Old Dubai Walking Tour

Old Dubai Walking Tour

Dubai's Old Quarter is one of the oldest residential areas in the city, with a predominantly South Asian population, restaurants, and shops. Commonly referred to as Meena Bazaar by the local Pakistani and Indian community, the locality also encompasses the Al Fahidi (otherwise known as Al Bastakiya) Historical Neighbourhood which dates back to the 1800s.

One of the prominent landmarks in...  view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 1.6 Km or 1 Miles
Dubai Downtown Walking Tour

Dubai Downtown Walking Tour

The ultra-modern city of Dubai did not always look the way it does now. For centuries, the city's economy relied heavily on the pearling and fishing industries. The Maktoum family, Dubai's current rulers, took over the reigns in 1883. The discovery of oil in 1966 set the change for a shift away from reliance on the marine industry.

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Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.8 Km or 1.7 Miles
Deira Shopping Walk

Deira Shopping Walk

Deira has been a Dubai commercial hub for years, home to the city’s oldest souks and a warren of narrow streets lined with outdoor cafés and traditional shops. Souks are traditional markets and they can be found on both sides of Dubai Creek.

The liveliest and most colorful are on the Deira side, and a tour of the souk adjacent to Deira Abra station is particularly rewarding. This is the...  view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 1.8 Km or 1.1 Miles

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