📍 🇴🇲 Ibn Battuta and Nizwa's clean mosques 

Located in the foothills of the Hajar Mountains in the south of Muscat, Nizwa was the former capital of the Sultanate of Oman during the 6th and 7th centuries. Its strategic location along trade route connected the rugged interior to the coast of the region and made the city a commercial and religious centre. The city is home to an ancient souk, mosques dated back to the 7th century as well as a fort built during the 17th century. Built within the traditional Omani architecture, the fort is characterised by an imposing circular tower with a diameter of 36 meters.

In its book called The Rihla (or The Travels), the Arab explorer Ibn Battuta (1304-1369) visited Nizwa and described the city as "a city at the foot of a mountain, enveloped by orchards and streams, and with fine bazaars and splendid clean mosques. Its inhabitants make a habit of eating meals in the courts of the mosques, every person bringing what he has, and all sitting down to the meal together, and travellers join in with them. They are very warlike and brave, always fighting between themselves."

____ Sources ____ 

 Soumyen Bandyopadhyay,  “Diversity in Unity: An Analysis of the Settlement Structure of Ḥārat al-ʿAqr, Nizwā (Oman).”, 2005.