OdaySomali Posted May 31, 2012 I am confident that there is a fort/castle in Qardho. I had seen one picture labelled as Qardho castle, which shown a structure that was partly in ruin but certainly had the outline of a castle/fort-like structure. Since then I have come across several pictures of another building tat looks completely different from the structure that I had seen in that original picture. So my question is does Qardho have several castle/fort-like structures? Here are some pics of th second building. I think this is a relativelu recently built building, certainly built within the last 100 years or so. Apart from its two towers, it is not very fort/castle-like, that is if one looks at how low-built its walls (excluding the towers) are, its windows and the fact that its walls are flat. what are your thoughts?? where is our otherwise loud-mouthed resident qardhaawi when you need hime Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OdaySomali Posted May 31, 2012 Only god nows how difficult it was to obtain the above images. I had to wait 5mins for one page to load so I could hot-link the images from it lol :mad: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chimera Posted June 1, 2012 Don't bother walaal, I was in the situation you're in the 2006-2009 period, where I kept finding massive Somali fortresses and ancient cities in literature, but there was not a single representation to find on the net, and the books that did have pictures were out of print. Since the place is so inaccessible, it will leave you only super-frustrated, because we have a wonderful rich history and this is another area where Allah(swt) blessed the Somalis in abundance but we have not preserved or honoured that heritage at all. I made a list once of places I would like to see in Somalia in the next five years: SOMALI HERITAGE : S-land : First destination: Hargeisa -There should be an old giant Fortress in the city(i think its best if you asked a local Hargeisawi knowlegdeable of the area where the precise location of that large fortress is and he/she might show you even more historical sites which are still unexplored) -Laas Geel rock painting Cave complex Second destination: Amud and Abasa -Two large stone cities(you can see some ancient ruins of Amud if you type ''Amud,Somalia'' in google images) (^ both of those cities are situated in the Borama area which is close to Hargeisa) Third destination: Saylac - Sa'ad ad Din Island and the medieval ruins and shrines - Old City walls - Ruins of the old quarter of the city - Qiblatain Mosque and others (Saylac is in the Awdal province and close by Borama) Fourth destination: Bulhar -Ancient Port city with lots of historical relics (close to Saylac) Fifth Destination: Berbera -Old stone city of Biya Guure - a few miles east of Berbera(again ask a local Berberawi to show you the way) -Ancient Dubar aquaduct (Berbera is next to Bulhar) Sixth Destination: Heis -Ancient city with lots of relics (close to Berbera) Seventh Destination: Mait -Ancient city with many ruins (next to Heis) Eighth Destination: Erigavo - Ancient Stone city of Maduna in Eel Afweyn which is close to Erigavo(type in Maduna, Somalia in google images and you will see some interesting remains of that city) - Dervish Fortresses in Erigavo P-land Destination: Bosaso -Old palaces of the Alula dynasty -Several Forts -Historic mosques and shrines -Old port Destination: Taleex -Fortresses of Taleex -Shrines of Sayyid's mother and father Destination: Las Khorey - Palaces of the Gerads - Several fortresses - Old port Destination: Qandala - Old stone city - several palaces and forts Destination: Hafun - ruins of Ancient Opone - ancient harbour - 18th century forts Destination: Hobyo - Many 19th century ruins such as forts and palaces - Ajjuuraan Palace with seven arches. There are also several other important sites and places such as Bargaal, Botiala and Bandar Beyla with lots of historic heritage. South Destination: Warsheikh - Historic mosques and shrines - Pillar tombs - City walls - Ruined houses Destinations: Merka and Barawa - Many old mosques, palaces and shrines - The old sections of the cities have houses four or five storeys high - Stone Towers Destination: Gondershe - Old citadel - many historic mosques and shrines Destination: Luuq - Old city - ruins of historic mosques and tombs Destination: Bardera - Old citadel Destination: Mogadishu - 13th century Arba Rucun mosque - Fakr Ad din Mosque - Jamia University - Almnara Tower - City walls - Shingani - Hamar jajab - old lighthouses - etc There is much, much more, but if I could visit at least these areas one day, with a HQ camera, I would consider myself a very happy man. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chimera Posted June 1, 2012 Here is another example of one of Africa's largest fortresses baking in the Somalia sun, with not a single person giving a damn about it. We're supposed to have the highest number of world heritage sites on the continent, something the UNESCO crew would be unable to deny, but instead we did the work for them and denied this for ourselves: (google-earth) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botiala Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SayidSomal Posted June 1, 2012 Qardho has two fortresses/castle - one build was build in 1907 and still serves as police station (the one's picture you posted. The second was more of castle was destroyed - it is now the home of Boqor and looks like a normal house. It was built sometime in 19 century - destroyed in 20th century - and final blow was dealt to it by floods. Hope that helps. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OdaySomali Posted June 1, 2012 Mahadsanid Sayid*Somal I assumed there were two. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
