Bait al-Baranda Museum

About Bait al-Baranda Museum

Museum in Muscat, Oman

Bait al-Baranda is a government museum in Mutrah, close to the corniche, in a handsome 1930s house with a broad wooden veranda, the baranda that gives it its name. It was built as a second home by the Omani merchant Muhammad bin Nasib bin Dawood al-Raisi, known as Khan Bahadur; the government later bought it from his heirs, restored it and turned it into a museum of Muscat's history. The displays tell Muscat's story from its geological formation to the present, with interactive exhibits, documentary films, documents, manuscripts and maps. The lower floor covers prehistory and palaeontology, Oman's remarkable rocks and fossils, and marine life. The upper floor turns to human history and ethnography: the peoples who lived in Muscat, their tools, the battles fought here, customs, traditions and folk arts, with paintings by foreign artists who visited the city. There is also a gallery for temporary art shows. It is small, well organised and clear, and suits families before a wander through the Mutrah souq.

Where:

Muscat, Oman

Travel guides

• Muscat and Around: Mosque, Souq, Wadis and Dunes