The Dubai Heritage Village
Before skyscrapers rose across Dubai’s horizon, the city was comprised of fishing villages as well as Bedouin communities that were populated by weavers, potters, pearl divers and other craftspeople.
Now, when you want to break from the modern world during your Dubai holiday in this beautiful emirate and step into the past, the best place to be would be the Dubai Heritage Village, which is located at the Al Shindagha historic neighborhood, specifically on the Bur Dubai side of the Dubai Creek. This reconstructed village is known for having houses that are made of mud and palm, as well as barasti huts, where you can get the chance to witness jewelers and potters practice their craft.
Originally, this village was established in 1997 in order to depict the traditional lifestyle in the beautiful emirate of Dubai and to introduce the local traditions, customs, professions and craftsmanship.
Here, you can check out a souk that sells Bedouin handicraft, spend some time in a traditional coffeehouse, sample local cuisine or even pose with a falcon. It has been attracting tourists who are interested in the traditional life of local people. It has witnessed major events, including the Dubai Shopping Festival, UAE National Day and Flag Day, among others.
As a visitor to this village, you will have a great opportunity to live and get to know various lifestyles of the locality, including desert, coastal, mountain and country life. It features an array of buildings and professions that are related to farming and irrigation, where well poles and shovels are still mostly used.
There is also a traditional medicine clinic hosted in the village during the tourist season, where patients are treated by doctors of traditional medicine with an inherited legacy of great expertise and experience of their methods of offering treatments, such as bone-setting, branding and herbal remedies.
The Dubai Heritage Village is also known for having an atmosphere of traditional markets that feature traditional items, which include jewelry, whistles, iron works and cotton fabrics, made by the local people.
When taking a stroll around the neighborhood, you will find a number of shops that sell pottery, products made from palm, dried milk, traditional sweets and even tools and equipment used in the previous era.
You can also enjoy watching performances of folklore dancing and singing, which include the traditional Ayyala, Razfa, El-Dan and Harbeya, along with the dances that were added to the local heritage in the region when the emirate started commercial relations with Africa, which include the Andemi, Lewa and Haban that are usually performed during the tourist season from October to March.
A visit to this lovely village will give you the unique opportunity to live and know up close and personal the many details and façades of the traditional life of the city, increasing your appreciation of the people who invented the ideas and methods to establish the place.
Now, when planning your itinerary for your visit to Dubai, you can check what we offer here at La Vacanza Travel.