Very little remains of the ancient city of Qalhat, save for the now dome-less mausoleum of Bibi Maryam. The city served as an important stop in the wider Indian Ocean trade network, and was also the second city of the Kingdom of Ormus. Covering more than 60 acres (240,000 m2), the ancient city was surrounded by fortified walls that contained houses and shops. Artifacts from as far away as Persia and China were found on-site.
This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on July 4, 1988 in the Cultural category.
Lady Mariam is said to have built a splendid mosque somewhere in Qalhat and some think that this ancient site is it. Others believe this to be her mausoleum with no clue as to where the mosque was (so for any aspiring archeologists out there, you could come over to Oman, do some exploring and go down in history as the one who found the ancient mosque of Qalhat. ) Some believe this was both the mosque she built and the place where her body was placed. Ah, mysteries!
Qalhat was visited by Marco Polo in the 13th century, but he refers to it as Calatu. Qalhat is also described by the famous Muslim traveler, Ibn Battuta, of the 14th century who was known as “the Marco Polo of the Muslim world“. Unknown to most westerners, this man is known as one of the greatest travelers of all time. He traveled to and described his journeys to more than 40 countries (predominately in the Islamic world) during a period of 30 years covering more than 75,000 miles
