Arad Fort

Arad Fort (Arabic: قلعة عراد‎, Qal'at 'Arad) is a 15th-century fort in Arad, Bahrain. Formerly guarding a separate island of its own, the fort and its surroundings have since been joined to Muharraq Island.

Arad Fort was built in the typical style of Islamic forts during the 15th century before the Portuguese invasion of Bahrain in AD 1622. This fort is one of the compact defensive forts in Bahrain. In its present location, it overlooks various sea passages of Muharraq's shallow seashores. In the past, there was an inaccessible marine channel which was controlled by the local people to prevent ships from breaking through to the island where the fort is located. The fort is square and on every corner there is a cylindrical tower. It is surrounded by a small trench which used to be filled with water from wells that were drilled especially for this purpose. In every corner of the upper wall of the fort there are nose shaped openings for marksmen.

Close to the Bahrain International Airport, the fort has been extensively restored and is illuminated at night. Traditional materials have been used in the restoration and maintenance of the fort after making extensive analysis of the original materials such as sea stones, lime, sand, and palm trunks. See Walls, Archibald G., Senior Architect, Ministry of Information, State of Bahrain, Arad Fort: Its restoration, its history and defences, February 1987, Pub. Directorate of Tourism and Archaeology, Ministry of Information, State of Bahrain[citation needed] No cement or any other materials which are not in harmony with the historical building or which reduce its historical value have been...