Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The museum is marooned in the middle of the
bondu
(waste ground) off Arabian Gulf
St, opposite Sharq Mall and next to the Modern Art Museum. There is currently no web-
site nor permanent telephone contact.
Modern Art Museum
GALLERY
( 2246 8348;
www.artkuwait.org
; Arabian Gulf St, Sharq; 9am-1pm & 5-8pm Sun-Thu; )
Adjacent to
the Maritime Museum on Arabian Gulf St, this attractive, traditional-style building hosts a
number of exhibitions of contemporary art throughout the year. Check the Art Kuwait
website for a calendar of events.
Sief Palace
PALACE
(Arabian Gulf St)
This is the official seat of the emir's court. The L-shaped Sief Palace that
faces the roundabout is the original palace dating from the early 20th century, while the
new and ponderously opulent palace, complete with lake, helipad and dock for visitors'
yachts, was completed around the beginning of 2000. Neither palace is open to the public
and photography is prohibited.
Grand Mosque
MOSQUE
(Masjed Al-Kabir; 2241 8447;
www.thegrandmosque.net
; Mubarak al-Kabir St)
Located opposite Sief
Palace, the Grand Mosque was opened in 1986 and cost KD14 million to construct. The
largest of the city's 800 mosques, it boasts Kuwait's highest minaret (74m) and can ac-
commodate up to 5000 worshippers in the main hall, with room for another 7000 in the
courtyard. Tours, best organised through a local tour operator, are provided by the know-
ledgeable mosque staff. For information on what to wear in a mosque and other courtes-
ies,
Click here
.
National Museum Complex
MUSEUM
( 2245 1195; Arabian Gulf St, Qibla; 8.30am-12.30pm & 4.30-8.30pm Mon-Thu, 4.30-8.30pm Fri,
8.30-11.30am Sat; )
Once the pride of Kuwait, the National Museum remains a shad-
ow of its former self. The centrepiece of the museum, the
Al-Sabah collection
, was one of the
most important collections of Islamic art in the world. During the Iraqi occupation,
however, the exhibition halls were systematically looted, damaged or set fire to.
