The Al Zubarah Fort is a square, four-towered structure built by Qatar's ruling Al Thani family in the 1930s to administer the northern territory. It served as a police post and later an archive before being converted into a site museum for the nearby UNESCO-listed archaeological site. The building itself is handsome in the Gulf tradition: coral-stone walls, interior courtyard, and watchtowers with crenellated tops.
The museum inside covers the history of Al Zubarah town, the 18th-century pearling economy, and the archaeology of the excavated ruins visible a short walk away. Well captioned in English and Arabic. The fort is the practical starting point for any visit to the Al Zubarah site.