Muscat – Closed since the COVID-19 outbreak, Bait al Safah, the heritage house in the wilayat of Al Hamra, Dakhliyah governorate, has reopened its doors to visitors.

Speaking to Muscat Daily, owner Suleiman al Abri said, “We are happy to reopen Bait al Safah. The losses were great, but we hope that with the reopening, we will recover those losses.”
Bait al Safah is now open everyday from 9am-5pm.

Talking about the house and its importance in keeping Omani traditions alive, Abri said that Bait al Safah helps attract a lot of tourists to Al Hamra.

It is about 400 years old and was built using mud/clay bricks, the common building material at the time.

“Here, visitors can find local people demonstrating traditional ways of extracting oil from nuts, roasting and grinding coffee, grinding grains and making flour, and baking rakhal – the traditional flat bread.”

He added, “Local men and women spend the day performing daily activities as they would have done in ancient times – squeezing dates into date syrup and refreshing lime-date juice, using stones to grind wheat, mixing perfume oils, and weaving traditional fabrics.”

Abri said, “As in any typical Omani home, coffee and dates are always available and offered to visitors.”

He informed that Bait al Safah has consistently got good ratings on Tripadvisor.

“We strive to provide a variety of services and stage events to attract as many tourists as possible. Bait al Safah aims to promote Omani heritage and culture,” Abri said.