Cities of Qatar: Doha

Doha (hell-dora) earned an unenviable reputation as a dull city on earth, but it is not quite so. Located in a hard arid climate, the young capital of Qatar (founded in 1867.) is located in a picturesque place of the bay. Many houses in the traditional Arabic style, centuries created based on maximum adaptation to local climatic conditions, create a characteristic style of urban development. The old quarters are framed by quarterly houses with mirror windows, brochures and palm alleys who have grown over the years "petroleum".

Attractions of the capital are considered "Old city", Fort Doha, Government House, Complex "City-Centr-Doha", Trading complexes "Landmark" and "Hayatt Plaza", Cornish Embankment, Entertainment Center "Palm Islands", amusement park "Alladin-Kingdom", Aquarium, Doha Zoo and, of course, traditional oriental markets ("Suk") "Suk-Vakif", "Suk Gold" and etc., as well as many small traditional markets located mainly on the outskirts of the city.

Separate attention deserve museums of the capital. The ancient land of Qatar only in recent years began to open their secrets to researchers, and meanwhile this territory was one of the foci of distribution of humanity in Asia.

The National Museum of Qatar is located in the building of Sheikh Abdalla Bin-Mohammed Palace, who ruled the country from 1913 to 1951. The main exposition of the museum is a two-level aquarium with representatives of local underwater ichthyofauna, no less interesting materials on Arab sea expeditions and the opening period by Europeans to India. Here are the traditional astronomical navigation methods of ancient seeds, the history of formation of Islam, life, astronomy, industry and the traditional lifestyle of the Qataris.

The museum of the capital’s weapons is based on the sheikha weapon collection, in which weapons are collected all times and peoples, including the unique collection of long-life Arab silica XVIII-XIX centuries.

The Ethnographic Museum of Qatar is located in a restored traditional Qatar house found during construction in the courtyard of the new shopping complex. The museum shows the life of local residents to oil boom and includes unique exhibits, including one of the few preserved "Towered winds" – Traditional dwelling shape with a unique system of natural air conditioning and ventilation, indispensable in such a hot region.

Another Museum of the capital is located on the territory of Fort-Doha, in many ways the repeating exposition of the National Museum, and the famous exposition of traditional crafts of the country, including threads, chasing and gold bowl for metal, carpet and tapestries. In the capital there is also a small postal museum.