Arabia's most liveable capital — incense-soaked souks, the finest coffee in the Gulf, Portuguese forts on the corniche, and the whitest city in the world
Muscat is the capital of Oman and a city that consistently surprises visitors expecting Gulf excess: no skyscrapers (a height limit ensures no building rises above the surrounding mountains), no neon, no malls consuming the urban fabric — instead, the whitest capital city in the world (all buildings must be painted white or near-white by law), an old town of Portuguese-era forts and 19th-century merchant houses on a rocky bay, the finest souk in the Gulf (the Mutrah Souk, open since the 17th century), and the most beautiful incense in Arabia. Omani incense culture is a national obsession: the…
Muscat has been a significant port city since the 1st century CE — the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea mentions the town of Moscha as an important trading post. The Portuguese captured Muscat in 1507 and held it (with a brief Persian interruption) until 1650, building the forts of Al Jalali and Al Mirani that still stand on the harbour headlands. The Ya'ariba dynasty expelled the Portuguese and the Busaidi dynasty (whose descendants still rule Oman as the Al Said royal family) seized power in 1749. Muscat's revival as a modern capital accelerated dramatically after Sultan Qaboos bin Said took…