The Etihad Museum contains the heritage of the United Arab Emirates, established as an independent country in 1971. In society, it is simply called the Emirates Museum, the UAE Museum. It describes cultural, social, political, military, and scientific history. It is recommended to set aside 3 hours to inspect all the pavilions. It is enough for foreigners to have a basic level of English.
History of creation
The Etihad Museum was designed by specialists from the Canadian architectural firm Moriyama&Teshima Architects. The construction is estimated at $163 million. The institution opened in 2017 in the place where the first UAE flag was raised on December 2, 1971. Thus, the symbol of the formation of a new state was perpetuated.
The Etihad Museum was built in the form of a document that recalls the signing of the UAE Constitution. The complex includes the Union House, an educational center and a library, but it has nothing to do with Etihad Airlines. The name translates from Arabic as "union", which is why it is so common.
Short description
It is difficult to confuse the Etihad Museum with other buildings, because it is designed in the form of a manuscript with 7 columns embedded in the institution, resembling the pens that were used during the signing of the declaration. The white curved roof embodies the declaration page, and it looks very impressive.
The building area is 25,000 square meters, there are 8 pavilions with exhibitions available for viewing. In the large hall there is a painting depicting the geography of the UAE, the author of the work is Abdul Kader Al Raes. Next to it are photographs of the rulers of the emirates, the family tree of each of them, and personal belongings.
What can I see
- A film about the history of the United Arab Emirates is being shown in the first pavilion.
- In the second pavilion, visitors study an interactive map depicting the land of the emirates before the formation of the union, learn about the way of life of that time.
- The third pavilion is an interactive timeline with highlighted key events that preceded the signing of the agreement.
- The fourth pavilion recreates the decisive meeting of the sheikhs, which led to the formation of a new state in the world.
- By visiting the fifth pavilion, you can learn about the motives of the alliance between the 7 emirates that have signed an agreement with each other.
- The sixth pavilion tells about the difficulties faced by the founding fathers on the way to the creation of the United Emirates.
- The penultimate pavilion presents the original version of the declaration, which was signed by each emir.
- In the last pavilion, under No. 8, there is a gallery where you can get information about the way of life of the nation, see the official symbols and attributes of the state.
How to get
Etihad Museum is located along the D94 highway, better known as Jumeirah Road. There are 3 metro stations within a 20-40 minute walk: Emirates Towers, Al Jafiliya and World Trade Centre.
You can take bus No8, 9, C10 or X28 and get off at ENOC Dhifiya, the journey to your destination takes about 5 minutes. You can also get there with transfers: take a tourist bus to the Golden Frame, and then take a taxi and drive along the road for 10 minutes.
Gallery
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