 Doha Photo Gallery - Katara Cultural Village
Katara Cultural Village is a shopping centre, beach spot, place of worship, art gallery, and green park. Reclaimed from the sea between West Bay and The Pearl, it took on the historic name used to refer to the region - Catara. It became Katara on 18th century maps.Opened in 2010, the mixed-use district is anchored by Galeries Lafayette from France and a pedestrianized shopping "high street". It's easy to reach with its own metro station just a short ride north of West Bay's modern skyscrapers.
Next door, many people were exercising in the Katara Hills, a park with perfectly green grass on its rolling hills.
From up here, you get a good view of the surrounding area, such as Katara Mosque. Designed by Turkish female architect Zeynep Fadilloglu, the blue and gold contrasts well against its neighbours.
Upon closer inspection, the Ottoman-style mosque features hand-made tiles, columns covered with leather and a gold-laden domed roof.
Continuing my visit, there are a lot of shops in the outdoor mall leading to the waterfront, although they do have some tarp hung above the walkways to shield shoppers from the heat.
They even built a classic Greek-style amphitheatre that can seat up to 5000 spectators.
There is more shopping wrapped around the amphitheatre - all outdoors. It's a nice place to walk around, enjoy the views, and spend some money. There are security guards everywhere and they make themselves quite visible!
There is a 2nd mosque in the area, the Gold Mosque.
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