Al-Baleed Archaeological Park

Al-Baleed is the most significant historical site in southern Oman — a UNESCO World Heritage Site preserving the ruins of a medieval port city that was the commercial heart of the global frankincense trade from the 12th to 15th centuries. The sprawling excavated site sits on the eastern edge of Salalah, close to the sea, and includes the remains of mosques, palaces, warehouses, and the city walls that once enclosed a prosperous trading metropolis.

The Museum of the Frankincense Land on the grounds is one of the best museums in Oman, with well-presented exhibits on Dhofar's natural history, pre-Islamic culture, the mechanics of the frankincense trade, and the historical connections between Arabia and East Africa. Allow at least two hours for the park and museum combined. Free entry; open Saturday–Thursday.

things to do sight museum
A story
Al-Baleed was known to Arab geographers as "Zafar" — the same name that gave "Dhofar" to the region. In the 13th century, the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta described it as a great city of merchants, with ships loading frankincense for every corner of the known world. Within two centuries it was abandoned, its trade routes disrupted by war, and the city vanished beneath the sand until modern excavations began.