Qasr Al Hosn, Abu Dhabi’s White Fort, owes its existence to a gazelle, if the legend is to be believed. Bani Yas hunters chasing one across a sandbar found fresh water, and a watchtower went up to guard it. Its plaster of lime, sand and crushed seashells sparkled in the sun, and ships used it to navigate.

The round tower, built in the late 1700s, is the oldest standing structure on the island. In the 1940s, oil concession fees, paid even though war delayed any drilling, funded a palace built around the fort. One of Sheikh Shakhbout’s daughters was among the first Emirati women to drive, and taught the palace guards.

VoiceMap’s self-guided audio tours use the site to trace Abu Dhabi’s leap from desert settlement to oil-funded nation, pairing the fort with the neighbouring modernist Cultural Foundation, designed by a firm Walter Gropius founded.