Souq Al Wakrah

About this place

Souq Al Wakrah is a traditional-style market on the seafront of Al Wakrah, an old pearling town just south of Doha. Its low, mud-plastered buildings hold shops, restaurants and cafés; the management counts 415 houses and nine old mosques. Entry is free. British records date the town to the early 19th century; J. G. Lorimer's British gazetteer of the Gulf, in its 1908 volume, counted 150 pearling boats and about 75 shops, most townspeople being pearl divers, sailors and fishermen. Rebuilt on the old town's ruins under a 2008 development plan, the souq opened its first restaurants and cafés for Qatar National Day in December 2014; the management dates its official inauguration to 2016. Narrow, winding alleys run between courtyard houses with large wooden doors and palm-frond ceilings, their shops selling oud and perfume, spices, homeware and clothing. The fish market holds an auction every morning. On the 1,237 m waterfront, replica dhows rest on the sand and restaurants line the promenade; midway lies Al Madhoub, where pearling captains once sold pearls. The beach has changing rooms and, per visitor guides, daytime lifeguards. Embrace Doha, a women-run cultural house, runs incense-mixing and sadu-weaving workshops. The souq lies about 15 km south-east of Souq Waqif as the crow flies (about 17 km by road), reachable by metro and feeder bus. Come on a winter evening, when the lanes are busiest. Five of its nine old mosques hold daily prayers; admire them from outside, especially at prayer times and Friday midday. Al Wakrah Beach, another public beach, is about 2 km south.