Jabrin Fort. I have driven past the turnoff for Jabrin Fort hundreds of times..There must be something preventing me from stopping off to investigate...It requires, I believe, a letter giving permission to visit, however, as I have never been closer than about 1 kilometer I simply don't know...but I will soon!!
The tour books say something like:
Quote"The small town of JABRIN (also spelled Jabreen, Jibreen, Gabrin, Gibrin and so on) is best known for its superb fort – if you only visit one fort while you’re in Oman, this is probably the one to choose. The fort dates mainly from around 1670, one of several built during the Ya’aruba building boom of the later seventeenth century, constructed at the behest of the future imam Bil’arab bin Sultan (reigned 1680–92), who lies buried here in a crypt beneath the fort. Further alterations were made to the castle during the eighteenth century by imam Muhammad bin Nasr al Ghafiri (reigned 1725–27), and the whole thing was restored between 1979 and 1983.
The fort is located around 5km south of Jabrin town, a picture-perfect structure nestled amid palm trees. The fort’s main building is surrounded by high walls and a gravel courtyard, home to a small mosque; you can also see the deep falaj, which formerly provided the castle with water (and which flows right through the building), to the rear. The interior is absorbingly labyrinthine, with dozens of little rooms packed in around a pair of courtyards. Essentially, the building divides into two halves, which, for the sake of clarity, are described below as the northern and southern wings, although you won’t find this terminology used in the fort itself ".Unquote.
Read more:
http://www.roughguides.com/destinati...#ixzz4KLpOhbRZ
What no one will tell you is about Cannons.. Were they ever situated here ..and if they were did they engage? Jibreen is a fabulous restoration completed by an Italian Doctor completing it in 1983. to the highest standards. In particular the ceilings have received his fabulous artistic restoration treatment...Jabreen was once the Capital of the interior taking over temporarily from Nizwa. Oman was at war with itself therefor think of the interior being in a long fight with the coastal region. There are a couple of cannons at the main doorway but I suspect they have been placed there as a cosmetic detail. To be fair Cannon do get moved around and it could be that redistribution may have occurred after it was renovated. In addition many cannon were centralized for an ongoing exhibition. There appears to be no external wall on these interior Forts which may point to them not having cannon ...The Forts on the coast are different where external walls are common.
Below can be imagined the irregular warriors who manned these great bastions although these are actually photographs..one of the oldest form of photo invented; the daguerreotype. Circa 1837.