Visitors to Dubai can experience one of the most advanced and high-tech cities in the world. But travel just 90 minutes north and you can see how different life was in the United Arab Emirates less than 100 years ago.

Al Jazirah Al Hamra – or the Red Island – is an abandoned village around 66 miles north of Dubai. Once a tidal island split into two sections – the southern quarter of Manakh and the smaller northern quarter of Umm Awaimir – it is the last authentic town still standing in the UAE.

With most of the around 500 buildings built from traditional coral-stone, the village was inhabited by members of the Zaab tribe, who made a living through pearl fishing, using a fleet of 25 boats.

Around 500 sheep and 150 cattle were also tended to at the site. But when oil was discovered under the sands in the 1950s and the country rapidly began to modernise, the village was left abandoned.

It has stood empty and in ruins since the inhabitants rapidly moved out between 1968 and 1971. Today the site operates as an open-air museum, standing as a record of the UAE’s rich cultural heritage.

Although much of the village is now crumbling, many of the buildings remain, including a pearl merchant’s resident, which features a reception room with traditional architecture blending Arabian and Indian influences.

A map dating back to the 1820s shows a number of mosques, including one with 20 domes – and today the ruins of the building can still be seen.

A map dating back to the 1820s shows a number of mosques, including one with 20 domes – and today the ruins of the building can still be seen. Remains of a number of interesting architectural features can be seen, including plain and ornamental archways, and a ventilation and colling system known as a windcatcher, or barjeel.

The remains of a fort can also be seen, with rectangular and round towers still visible. The village is on the UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Tentative List, meaning it has been nominated by the UAE for inclusion on the World Heritage List.

Parts of Netflix action film 6 Underground, starring Ryan Reynolds and directed by Michael Bay, were filmed in Al Jazirah Al Hamra in 2018.

Speaking at the time, Bay said: “We shot in Al Hamra – an ancient ghost city they called it – that we played for Afghanistan. And literally right around the corner we played another part for Nigeria. It’s very versatile to have a place where literally like five minutes away it’s like a different country.”