Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman, has been honoured with the title of one of the most beautiful cities on Earth. This accolade was recently featured by msn.com, a popular web portal from Microsoft that includes news, sports, entertainment, and the Bing search engine.
The recognition comes from a survey conducted by Rebecca Hallett, a well-known travel writer and Japan specialist.
Rebecca highlights that while cities worldwide are often associated with excitement and culture, many urban hubs rival the prettiest villages and most striking natural wonders in terms of beauty.
These beautiful cities boast breathtaking surroundings, awe-inspiring architecture, and landmarks that have stood for centuries, ranging from colorful old towns to sleek modern skylines.
Muscat is described as a dazzling city, stretching for almost 40 kilometres along the Sea of Oman. The city seamlessly blends opulent modern buildings like Al Alam Palace and the Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) with fascinating historic districts.
The iconic Mutrah Souq is noted as a dizzyingly colourful bazaar, while the traditional Arabian architecture of walled Old Muscat gives the city a timeless appeal. The jewel in Muscat’s crown is the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, an awe-inspiring edifice of gleaming gold, vibrant turquoise, and cool, white marble.
Some of the few other cities mentioned in the list of the world’s most beautiful cities include Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Bruges (Belgium), Dubrovnik (Croatia), York (England), Khiva (Uzbekistan), Sydney (Australia), Bergen (Norway), Galway (Ireland), Prague (Czech Republic), Udaipur (India), Porto (Portugal), Reykjavik (Iceland), Edinburgh (Scotland), Cork (Ireland), New York City (US), Cusco (Peru), Cape Town (South Africa), Vancouver (Canada), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Santa Barbara (US), Hoi An (Vietnam), New Orleans (US), Ketchikan (Alaska, US), Quebec City (Canada), Lhasa (Tibet), Tauranga (New Zealand), Kyoto (Japan), Nuuk (Greenland), Shanghai (China), Stirling, Scotland (UK), Yogyakarta (Indonesia), St Augustine (US), Cleveland (US), Lyon (France), Perth (Australia), Valletta (Malta) and Hobart (Australia).
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