Bastakiya Quarter

In the old historic district by the creek, a knot of narrow lanes runs between tall wind-tower houses of sand-coloured stone, shaded, quiet, and centuries removed from the towers nearby. This is the Bastakiya Quarter, the heart of old Dubai, named for the merchants who built it and famous for the wind towers that cool its houses.

The quarter takes its name from a town across the Gulf, in southern Iran, called Bastak, from which many of its first merchant families came. Drawn by trade and favourable conditions, they settled here in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and built homes in the style of their homeland.

Those merchants made their living from trade across the Gulf, and their wealth shows in the houses: solid courtyard homes of coral stone and gypsum, built close together along shaded lanes, each crowned by the tall wind tower that was the mark of a prosperous household.

The wind tower is the quarter's signature. A tall, open-sided shaft rising from the roof, it catches the breeze from any direction and funnels it down into the rooms below, cooling the house in the fierce heat long before electricity made air conditioning possible. The rooftops bristle with them.

The lanes between the houses are deliberately narrow and winding, designed to throw shade and to channel the air, so that walking them even in the heat of the day is far more comfortable than the open streets. Getting pleasantly lost among them is the point.

The quarter fell into neglect as the city modernised and was nearly lost, before a campaign saved and restored it. Today its old houses hold galleries, museums, cafes, and cultural centres, so it lives on as a quarter of art and learning rather than a ruin.

It is closely tied to the neighbouring historic district, and the two names are often used for the same area, a restored old quarter of wind towers, courtyards, and lanes that together form the oldest surviving fabric of the city.

The art galleries are a particular pleasure, set in atmospheric old rooms and showing work by artists from the region, and the quarter hosts an annual arts festival that fills its lanes with installations and crowds.

Cafes in restored courtyards serve Arabic coffee, dates, and meals in the shade, among the most pleasant places in the city to rest, and a welcome pause between exploring the lanes and the nearby creek and souks.

The contrast with modern Dubai gives the quarter its power. A short distance from the world's tallest tower, these low, shaded, wind-cooled houses show how people lived here for generations before oil and glass, in tune with the heat rather than fighting it with machines.

A few practical notes. The quarter is free to wander; come in the cooler morning or evening, wear comfortable shoes for the uneven lanes, and allow time to step into a gallery and a courtyard cafe. The creek and the souks are a short walk away.

Walk the shaded lanes slowly, look up at the wind towers catching the breeze, and step into a quiet courtyard, and the old merchant city comes back to life around you. Bastakiya is where Dubai remembers what it was. When you step out toward the creek, the towers on the skyline measure how far it has come.