The historical center of Sharjah sits right in the heart of the city. Here you will find a fairly large historical quarter with narrow streets of pale coral-stone buildings, home to several history museums — the Sharjah Heritage Museum, the whole restored architectural district known as the Heart of Sharjah, the Museum of Islamic Calligraphy, the small but colorful Al Arsah souq, and even a Theatre Association building. And around this oasis of calm, the emirate's economic life is in full swing — skyscrapers rise on every side, cars rush past, and people argue loudly on the phone.
If you need a bank, a beauty salon, a restaurant, a supermarket, or a shopping mall, this is exactly the place — the center of Sharjah.
Most museums in the quarter share the same schedule: Saturday to Thursday 8:00–20:00, Friday 16:00–20:00, and admission to most of them is free. Al Arsah souq is open Saturday to Thursday 9:00–21:00 and Friday 16:00–21:00. Besides the places already mentioned, it's worth stepping into Bait Al Naboodah — a restored late-19th-century mansion of a wealthy pearl merchant with an inner courtyard, which gives a good sense of how well-off Sharjah families lived before the oil era.
Al Mareija, Sharjah · 25.357792, 55.384436
