The Siyadi family did not only build mosques and houses; they also built shops, and the row of old shops in Muharraq is a reminder that a pearl merchant was also a businessman who understood the value of property. Streets of single-storey units, with wooden shutters and plain fronts, stand near the family's other buildings in the old town, and they once held traders selling cloth, rice, spices, dates and the everyday goods a town needs. Pearls themselves were usually sold privately, in the majlis, to buyers who knew what they were doing.
Walk past with an eye for the small details: the thick wooden doors, the iron hinges, the lintels cut from a single beam, the way the walls are built of coral rock and covered in plaster, a material that breathes and keeps the heat out. The shopfronts were designed to open wide in the morning and close at night, and to give the shade of a deep overhang to anyone passing underneath. Today some are restored and used as cafes or workshops, and some are quiet.
The surrounding district is one of those places where you can feel how a town grew. Streets are narrow, houses lean together, and shops face lanes that are barely wide enough for two people to pass. Mosques, schools and bakeries stand within a few steps of each other, and the shape of the neighbourhood is the shape of the old pearling community. Look at the shadow, not just the wall, because in a hot climate shade was the real architecture.
Visiting by motorbike is simple on the main roads of Muharraq island but frustrating in the lanes, which are narrow, one-way in places and filled with parked cars. Leave the bike on a wider road and walk. Fuel is easy to find in Muharraq and Manama, a short ride away, and there are small shops selling water and snacks. Mornings and evenings are the pleasant times, before the heat and after sunset, when the lanes fill with people. Winter is far kinder than summer, when humidity makes the air feel heavy. If you are hungry, find a bakery selling fresh khubz, flat bread, and a plate of local fish, and eat in the shade.