Sightseeing in Abu Dhabi - what to see. Complete travel guide

1761 can be considered the official date of the city foundation. In this year a source of the fresh water was discovered, and people from Bani Yas tribe created a protective fort around it. The spring attracted more and more people and soon a small village was created around it. All inhabitants protected the spring as water meant life. Village people earned for living mostly by procuring peals and fishing. Years passed, but they didn’t cause any serious changes in the lifestyle of the village people until a valuable deposit was discovered not far from Ras Sadr in 1958. However, this time this wasn’t a source of fresh water, but an oil field.

This deposit was one of the richest and brought large revenues to the city. Today Abu Dhabi is the capital of the wealthiest emirate, a modern megalopolis and an internationally famous tourist destination.

The city’s center is full of mosques and the embankment is decorated with beautiful fountains, the names of which are as refined and pompous, as their look. Modern Abu Dhabi resembles a mirage as the contrast between endless golden desert sands and hi-tech skyscrapers surrounded by green gardens is really striking. In spite of the grandness of modern buildings, you will find historic places of interest, for example, the ancient Al Husn fortress. Abu Dhabi is a unique city, in which the most technically sophisticated skyscrapers neighbor with ancient houses built 3 hundred years ago. One of the city’s peculiarities is in amazing parks that occupy all free space of this city. Here the choice of plants is really big and you can see different types of palms, decorative shrubbery or walk on the crisp carpet of fresh green grass. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

The eastern part of the emirate is considered the historical district. Here are located the most famous sights of the city: Museum of Al-Ain, Jebel Hafeet mountain, Hale Park, a huge zoo, Ayn Fayyad Park and the National University.

One of the main symbols of the city is considered to be the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, also known as the White Mosque. This particular building amazes with its scale and incredible beauty; around the mosque is a huge square, laid out of marble of various colours. The mosque can host up to 40,000 believers at once, and is considered one of the most luxuriously decorated mosques in the world. Not only selected species of marble and precious metals, but also rare stones were used for interior decoration. Within the walls of the mosque are hidden numerous interesting artefacts, including the world's largest carpet and the most expensive chandelier, diameter of which reaches 10 meters.

The ethnographic museum "Heritage Village" will be an ideal place to explore the culture and traditions of local residents. It is stylized as a classical Bedouin settlement, with several tents set up on site of the museum, inside of which are hidden curious artefacts. On the territory of the museum there are several intriguing workshops, where you can observe the manufacture of household items, fascinating souvenirs and jewellery. Tourists with limited funds will be pleased to learn that this museum is free to visit.