Al Wajba Fort
Al Wajbah Fort is one of the oldest forts in Qatar.
Al Wajba Fort
Al Wajba Fort

Al Wajbah Fort is one of the oldest forts in Qatar. Located in the locality of Al Wajbah in Al Rayyan, it is situated 15 km west of Doha. The fort was built in 1893 and was the location of an important battle when the army of Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani defeated the Ottoman army in 1893. The conflict was initiated after Ottoman officials imprisoned 16 Qatari tribal leaders and ordered a column of troops to march toward the Al Thani stronghold in the village of Al Wajbah in response to kaymakam Jassim Al Thani’s refusal to come to Ottoman authority. Although Qatar did not gain full independence from the Ottoman Empire, the result of the battle is seen by Qatar as a defining moment in the establishment of Qatar as a modern state and the Ottoman’s rule was over in Qatar.

It was used as the residence of Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani at various periods. The fort’s most prominent features are its four watchtowers. It underwent restoration in the later 20th century.

additional Historical Sites
Freiha

Freiha

  Some 5km north of Al Zubarah lies the site of Freiha, a small abandoned town that is situated in a shallow bay. Current excavation and research suggest that the town dates from the early 18th to the mid-19th centuries when it was abandoned. This means that...

Al Zubarah

Al Zubarah

At the very tip of the Qatari peninsula, the now rather desolate area of Al Zubara was the site of successive communities and was once a thriving and prosperous settlement – the focus of the region’s trade. Between 1775 and 1780, an attack by the Persians on Basra,...