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Tarout Castle

الربيعية, Italy

Tarout Castle

Tarout Castle (Arabic: قلعة تاروت), also known as Tarut Palace, Tarut Fort, Portuguese Fort, is an archaeological site in Qatif, Saudi Arabia. It is situated on a hill in the center of Tarut Island, located southwest of Deira, in the eastern part of Qatif Governorate, Saudi Arabia. The hill, known a

s Tall Tawt, is estimated to be 5,000 years old. The castle itself is believed to date back to the time of the Uyuni state and was later used as a Portuguese defensive point. The Portuguese renovated the castle in the 16th century, specifically on 29 March 1544 CE (1 Jumada al-Awwal 951 AH), during their occupation of the Persian Gulf. The fort was constructed on the remains of a temple dedicated to the Phoenician goddess Astarte or Inanna, from whom the name "Tarut Island" is derived. The ruins and foundations of the original temple remain visible beneath the castle. Several statues and pottery pieces dating back to earlier periods have been discovered within Tarut Castle, including artifacts from the Sumer era, the Fatimid Caliphate, and the Dilmun civilization. However, the castle is currently facing several challenges, the structural cracking of its towers, which poses a risk of collapse...

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