Flagged for gawpers

Though not so poor that they couldn't give the Sultan a nice house. Built in 1972, the Al Alam Palace (“Flag Palace”), is the most important of 6 royal residences dotted around Muscat, Salalah and Sohar. One might think it was a film set for a Hollywood cartoon epic, but I am assured it is "Oman’s most flamboyant example of contemporary Islamic design, with two long wings centred on a colourful, cube-like central building, its flat, overhanging roof supported by extravagantly flared blue and gold columns".
The palace was built on the site of the old British Embassy. The gos is that any slave who could reach and touch the flagpole in the front yard gained their freedom.
The living quarters are discretely spread over an acre or two adjacent to the colourful focus, and the long marble approach is bordered by marble government buildings, like the Ministry of Finance.
The palace isn’t open to the public.Read more