Bahrain Pearling Trail, Pearling heritage trail in Muharraq, Bahrain

The Bahrain Pearling Trail is a walking path stretching 3.5 kilometers across Muharraq Island, connecting seventeen restored buildings. These structures showcase the maritime pearl industry, including merchant homes, storage facilities, and diving sites.

Pearl diving off Bahrain is recorded in Assyrian texts of around 2000 BC, which list "fish eyes" from Dilmun as a trade good. Pliny called the islands Tylos, noted for the number of their pearls. The trade peaked between the 1850s and 1930, when pearls were worth more than diamonds and drew jewellers such as Jacques Cartier; some 30,000 divers still worked in 1930. The world depression and Japanese cultured pearls ended it, and after oil was struck in 1932 most divers changed work.

The 17 listed buildings include merchants' residences and majlises, traders' and divers' houses, shops, storehouses and the Siyadi family mosque. The Siyadi complex in central Muharraq was the seat of a pearl-trading family. Since the 2013 regeneration, crafts such as Kurar embroidery, once nearly extinct, are taught again in the revived buildings.

The trail begins at Bu Mahir Fort and winds through different sections of the island, making a guided tour helpful for understanding the sites. Wear comfortable shoes for the walk and plan to visit during cooler morning hours to enjoy the experience fully.

The trail's UNESCO listing covers three oyster beds in Bahrain's northern waters, a stretch of coast and the Bu Mahir fort, plus 17 buildings in Muharraq. The revitalisation of Muharraq won the 2019 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and it helped revive Kurar embroidery, a craft that had nearly died out.