Nizwa is a fascinating place. The famous goat market is every bit as compelling as we'd imagined; the equally famous fort is a huge round defensive tower with royal quarters housed in an attached castle.
Nizwa is one of the oldest cities in Oman, enduring because of its strategic location on trade routes and an abundant supply of water with an extensive falaj (irrigation) system. It was the capital of the interior for over a thousand years, and seat of the ruling imams of the region, distinct form the sultanate centred on Muscat. During the sixth and seventh centuries it was actually the capital of the whole country,under the Julanda dynasty.
The Great Fort of Nizwa may date back to the ninth century but the current structure was built in the 17th century, part of the extensive building programme of the ruling Yaruba dynasty. It is famous for its massive cylindrical tower. The museum we'd visited in Muscat, Bait Zubair, had a great display about various Omani forts, including this one.
Nizwa Fort actually has two parts: the circular tower "fort" and an attached "castle" housing the imam's extensive residence.
The cylindrical tower is 30m high and 36m in diameter. The structure is very strong, being filled to a depth of 15m with earth and built to withstand cannon fire. Access was via a single narrow staircase which zigzagged up through the infill to the interior of the fort.
Each turn of the staircase was closed off with a heavy door above which was a murder hole, a deep shaft down which defenders could pour boiling date juice onto the heads of intruders, or water to extinguish any fire set to burn down the door. Further hazards were the pitfall traps, deep holes immediately on the other side of the doors, loosely covered with a double leaf hatch which gave way under the weight of the intruder.
The entire complex is surrounded by a wall.
According to the information at Bait Zubair, the interior of the tower originally only had a single staircase ascending the wall. When the fort was restored double staircases were installed to allow visitors easier access to the magnificent view over the surrounding landscape from the walls.
The residential castle is a maze of high-ceilinged rooms, the thick stone walls keeping them remarkably cool. For the same reason, many rooms have few, if any, windows, and these can be covered with slatted shutters which allow cooling breezes into the room.
The inevitable date store is deep in the castle with no windows and very cool. Sacks of dates were piled one on top of the other, the weight causing the juice to flow out. It was collected for consumption, or to use as a boiling liquid poured on attackers through the murder holes.
There were a group of Omani musicians parading through the town and the fort playing traditional instruments, chanting Omani songs and rattling very flexible swords.
Even better, there was an Omani lady making traditional flatbread and doing a roaring trade. It was delicious.
A 7:15am start to make sure we get to the goat market while it is in full swing.
It's absolutely fascinating. Crowds of tightly packed men, a few boys and one or two women surround a ring where owners or handlers parade their animals. Every now and then there is an exchange between buyers and sellers, the animal is shown to the prospective buyer and some discussion and haggling ensues. It wasn't clear to us that there was an auctioneer but apparently there is.
We spent some time wandering around the souks, always fascinating.
Kareem, our guide, encouraged us to try different varieties of halwa which he has a great fondness for; for me it is way too sweet.
It comes in many varieties - fig, cardamom, walnut, rose, saffron and many more. It is often given as a gift when visiting friends and family and can be purchased in fancy boxes.
There were sellers both in the traditional booths in the indoor souk and outdoor with their wares spread out on the ground or on make-shift tables.
The date souk was fabulous - many, many varieties to try, freely, with small cups of coffee available too. I love dates so this was heaven for me.
Later our guide Kareem produced a tray of fabulous dates as we were driving off, it was extremely difficult not to overindulge!
Kareem was a fantastic guide, constantly providing local foods, drinks and experiences. One evening in Nizwa he took us out for a local meal (though we insisted on paying for us all).
I had a mildly spicy camel dish, Andrew a barbecue chicken - both meats very tender and moist, Omani and Biryani rice, both very good, and lovely minty hummus, something I'm not normally keen on. Kareem had a dried fish dish, very oniony, in a cold broth which he obviously loved. And excellent freshly-made Omani flatbread. We shared to taste all the different dishes which was nice too.