Where to Stay in Nizwá, Muḩāfaz̧at ad Dākhilīyah

What is Nizwá known for?

On the edge of a great palm oasis at the foot of the Jebel Akhdar mountains, it was long the capital of the interior imams, and it keeps a huge round fort with its famous cannon tower, an old souq of silver and the curved khanjar daggers, a Friday market of goats and cattle, and the water channels that feed the date gardens. The palms fill the wadi. The bare mountains rise behind.

What are the main landmarks in Nizwá?

Nizwa Fort is the emblem of the town. The huge round tower of stone rising over the oasis, built to mount cannon three centuries ago, looks out over the palms and the market, the mark of the city, above the wadi. A souq crowds below.

The old market of silver and daggers fills with trade, loudest at the Friday cattle market, while the blue-domed mosque, the falaj channels, and the date gardens mark the country around Nizwa.

What is the history of Nizwá?

Nizwa was the heart of old Oman. For long ages the town was the capital of the interior and the seat of the imams who ruled the mountains, a stronghold of the faith and of learning. Scholars filled the town.

Nizwa was known as a place of religion and study, so proud of its faith that it was called the pearl of Islam, and it held the trade of the mountain roads. The great fort guarded the oasis. Three centuries ago the rulers of Oman built a huge round fort at Nizwa, its vast drum tower raised to hold cannon against attackers, guarding the town and its water.

The oasis fed the city. Falaj channels carried mountain water to the date gardens that kept the town alive, and Nizwa lived by its palms, its market, and its fort through the years. The round tower still holds the town.

Nizwa keeps its fort and its souq below the Green Mountain.

Where is Nizwá?

Nizwa lies in the interior of Oman, in a broad valley at the foot of the Jebel Akhdar. The town spreads through a great oasis of date palms watered by ancient channels, where the mountains give way to the gravel desert, with the high Green Mountain rising to the north and dry plains stretching south. Palm gardens fill the valley.

Bare mountains wall the north.

What is the climate of Nizwá?

Nizwa has a hot, dry desert climate. Scorching summers and mild winters cross the interior, with fierce dry heat for much of the year, though the high mountains above stay cooler. The summer heat turns fierce.

Winter nights grow cold.

How do you get to Nizwá?

Nizwa lies in the interior of Oman, on the road inland from Muscat. Roads and buses run to it over the hills from Muscat and across the interior, and roads climb up to the Green Mountain. Lanes ring the old fort.

Muscat lies northeast over the range.