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Dubai · History

Before oil: wind towers, pearls and the Creek of Bur Dubai

Long before the Burj Khalifa, Dubai was a port of pearl divers and traders on the Creek, the arm of the sea that splits the city in two. On this route you will walk the Bur Dubai bank: the wind-tower quarter, Al Fahidi Fort, the Grand Mosque, the old souk and the tip of Al Shindagha, where the family that still rules the emirate first settled. It is a short, flat walk, best done in the cooler hours of the day.

  • 6 stops
  • 1.9 km
  • 1 h 40 min
  • Free
Start with GPS Read about this stop 1
Al Fahidi wind towers with a plane taking off behind them

The route

Stop by stop

  1. 1 Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood (Al Bastakiya)A maze of alleys and wind towers built by Persian merchants, which came close to disappearing under the bulldozers.
  2. 2 Al Fahidi FortDubai’s oldest standing building: a coral tower from around 1787 that has been a fortress, a residence, an arsenal, a prison and a museum.
  3. 3 Grand Mosque, Bur DubaiIt began as a Quranic school around 1900 and now boasts the city’s tallest minaret, some 70 metres of pale stone.
  4. 4 Bur Dubai Souk and the CreekIndian fabrics under a wooden roof and the coming and going of the abras: for over a century the Creek was Dubai’s main street.
  5. 5 Al Shindagha, the tip of the CreekOn this spit of land between the Creek and the sea the Al Maktoum settled in 1833, and Dubai’s political history begins here.
  6. 6 Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum HouseThe coral house where Dubai’s ruler lived from 1912 to 1958, witness to the fall of the pearl trade and the arrival of oil.

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Start with GPS

Guide mode

Walk it with GPS.

Open guide mode on your phone: you’ll see your position and the distance to each stop, and we’ll let you know when you arrive. Then read or listen.

Start with GPS

  1. Turn on your location

  2. Walk to the spot

  3. Check the photo and listen

What you’ll discover

Before oil: wind towers, pearls and the Creek of Bur Dubai

A city of coral

Houses of coral stone, gypsum and teak, cooled by wind towers centuries before air conditioning.

From village to emirate

How a settlement of some 800 members of the Bani Yas tribe became a free port that drew merchants from Persia and India.

The Creek at the heart

The arm of the sea that gave life to the dhow trade, the abras and the souks that still line its banks.

Keep exploring

More routes in Dubai

Back to Dubai
Mysteries & legendsDjinn, sea spirits and golden mirages: the legends of Deira MixedRecord-breaking Dubai: from the Burj Khalifa to the Opera