TAROUT CASTLE (FORTERESSE DE TAROUT)

Occupying the center of the island, the fortress of Tarout stands out with its massive walls and three bulging towers. Inscriptions and relics traceable to Mesopotamia suggest that this stronghold has existed since 5000 BC. A millennium later, Tarout was the capital of the Dilmun, a civilization that governed trade between Mesopotamia and the Arabian coasts. The remaining walls and towers may date back to the Portuguese, who briefly occupied the island in the ^16th century against the Ottomans.