Museum devoted to Islamic Holy Book. Beit al Quran (quite literally, House of the Quran) is a unique museum, dedicated solely to the Holy Book and works of art inspired by it. The museum itself has distinctively Islamic architecture. Don't miss peeking into the modest mosque and looking at the beautiful rotunda.

Many copies of the Quran you'll see are works of art themselves including an illuminated 12th-century Persian masterpiece or a gold-lettered, eight-sided 16th-century edition.

Some miniature copies of the Quran fit into the palm of the hand and Quranic verses have even been inscribed on a grain of rice.

Call 1729 0404 for more information.

One from history. One of the oldest mosques in the Arab world, Al Khamis mosque is believed to have been built in AD 692 and restored in the 11th century. The Kufic inscriptions on its walls and the ancient arches make the mosque popular with photographers, historians and religious leaders alike. In the 1960s, it ceased to be used for worship. The style of the characteristic minaret was duplicated at Beit Al Quran.

Religious clues from the distant past. Three temples, built one over the other, provide vital clues to religious rites in the Dilmun era. If the site of the Bahrain Fort was the civil capital of ancient Dilmun, Barbar may have been the spiritual centre. All three temples, constructed during the third and second millenniums BC, were dedicated to Enki, the god of wisdom and living waters. Legend has it that he lived in a subterranean palace covered in silver and lapis lazuli, near a freshwater lake.