Katara Cultural Village

Katara was built on the Doha coast as a cultural district and opened in 2010, a set of buildings in a deliberately traditional idiom, sand-coloured walls, wind towers and narrow lanes, holding an opera house, an amphitheatre modelled on a Greek one, galleries, a mosque with gold mosaic and a pigeon tower. A beach runs along its seaward edge. Concerts, film screenings and exhibitions run through the winter.

What you actually see

• The amphitheatre - the open theatre on the seaward side of the complex.
• The golden mosque - the mosque faced in gold mosaic tile.
• The lanes - narrow streets built in a deliberately traditional idiom.
• The programme - concerts, exhibitions and screenings through the winter.

When to go

November to March is when outdoor events run and the weather allows walking. Summer is too hot to be outside during the day. Evenings are when the district fills.

Honest expectations

It is a built cultural quarter rather than a historic one, and the traditional detail is recent. Much of it is empty outside event times. Summer daytime heat makes it unusable.

Nearby

The Pearl is north, and West Bay is south.