Visit the old houses and drive through the traditional Souk. Between the 1850s and 1930s, the pearling industry across the arabian Gulf flourished and Bahrain’s third-largest city of Muharraq – its then capital – and it was the centre of the trade. Muharraq’s architecture boasts coral stone constructions sourced from the nearby sea, unlike many other pearling centres that were home to temporary structures made of palm products. Many of the famous families associated with pearling business still own their homes, and some currently reside in them.