Picture These: Katara

Picture these:  

Dusk introduces the evening sky.  The night scrapers start to boast their glamorous lights from afar.  You are on top of a beautiful amphitheater to witness all the dramatic scenes that are happening right in front of your eyes; the gentle warm breeze kisses your face.

I have experienced the above.  I was in Katara.

The photos above and below were taken from the Katara Cultural Village, which is branded as Qatar's largest and most multi-dimensional cultural project.  For me, it is the most interesting place in Qatar as there are plenty of activities to see and do inside.  Withal, its structures exude the beauty of Arabic architecture (which I personally find very fascinating) - with all those various geometrical art forms and the fusion of the simple and extravagant architectural details.   The village is comprised of theaters, concert halls, exhibition galleries and restaurants.  It holds the yearly Doha Tribeca Film Festival and is home to art exhibits and orchestra performances.   Should anyone wish to indulge in water sports activities, there's Katara Beach.

It is equally beautiful to explore Katara at daytime and at nighttime. Need proof?  Check out the photos below. :)

Katara at night:

Katara at daytime:

The first time I visited Katara was in November 2011, when the climate was very conducive to walk around and visit places.  Back then, Katara made me feel like I was wandering through Rome's Colosseum and in Morocco.

       

    

I usually do not fancy gold.  However, I love the effects of the gold-coloured mosaic tiles cladding on this mosque inside the village. 

     

And in case you have noticed these structures in one of the photos above, you might now be wondering what these are for (like I did when I saw these for the first time).   These are pigeon towers.

                        

From the amphitheater, one would readily see the Katara Beach, which spans over 1.5 kilometers.  I saw in one of their streamers that sports activities such as water skiing, parasailing, sailing, boat rides and banana rides are offered by the beach management.  We haven't tried any of these though. 

Lastly, should you get hungry while you're inside the Katara Cultural village, you may choose from their various international restaurants (just check the restaurants' opening hours before you go by visiting the website http://www.katara.net/english/the-village/restaurants/).   

We have tried one restaurant so far  - the L'wzaar seafood restaurant.  This is Katara's version of the Philippine's "dampa" restaurants where you could have any seafood of your choice and have it cooked the way you like.   I'd say that the prices of the food are very reasonable. 

Inside L'wzaar seafood restaurant -
Notice the mosaic tiles from the floor to the walls.

Pretty details on the throw pillow

Here are additional photos of the restaurant.  I have downloaded them from the Katara and L'wzaar seafood restaurant websites:

       

             

       

       

What is the meaning behind the name "Katara"?

“Catara” was the most ancient name  of the Qatar Peninsula in geographic and historical maps since 150 A.D.  However, the name “Katara” instead of "Catara" appeared in the geographical and historical maps in the early eighteenth century AD.   

According to the Katara website, it was decided to revive Qatar’s olden name to uphold Qatar's connection to ancient heritage and to honour the country's distinguished position since the dawn of history.  Thus, the birth of the Katara Cultural Village.

Where is Katara?

Katara is between West Bay and The Pearl - Qatar.

You might find the following maps useful in locating and exploring Katara:

"Your purpose is to make your audience see what you saw, hear what you heard, feel what you felt. Relevant detail, couched in concrete, colorful language, is the best way to recreate the incident as it happened and to picture it for the audience."  - Dale Carnegie