A fort in the old quarter
Ibrahim Palace, also called al-Kut Palace and Qasr al-Qubbah, stands in the al-Kut quarter of al-Hufuf. It was built in 1555 and covers about 16,900 m². Its walls are mud and straw, its roofs carried on palm trunks, timber and stone, and its outer walls are pierced for lookouts, rifles and cannon.
Some historians say Ibrahim bin Afisan renewed it in 1801. Under King Abdulaziz, semicircular arches and domes were added, together with massive towers and soldiers' barracks.
Inside the walls
A plain main gate gives onto a larger carved gate and a wide corridor into the central courtyard. The mosque has a large central dome ringed by smaller ones, geometric gypsum windows, and a tall stone minaret with a spiral stair. Around the courtyard are stables, officers' quarters, an ammunition store and barracks with a command chamber reached by a double staircase.
Restored in 2019, the palace is now an archaeological museum on the history of al-Ahsa. Close by is Al-Qaisariyah Market.