MSHEIREB MUSEUMS

Four historic houses in the former Msheireb have been renovated and transformed into a fascinating museum that tells the story of Qatari life over the centuries and from different angles. Take your time to discover the collection; you'll need a good half-day to explore it all. The four houses have very different themes. There's also a restaurant with a pleasant, shaded outdoor terrace. You can book a free guided tour by e-mail.

Bin Jelmood House. This house is dedicated to the memory of the slaves who have integrated Qatari society over the centuries and who are an integral part of the country's DNA. A highly successful, interactive, emotional and ultimately very thorough exhibition, the first rooms evoke slavery in general in the history of mankind, but also modern slavery in the world, including in Qatar with the abolition in 2005 of Sudanese child jockeys exploited to train racehorses. We then go back in time to the era of the first slaves in the Gulf to the massive slave trade orchestrated in East Africa by Oman from the port of Zanzibar. An interactive room packed with screens encourages visitors, and perhaps even Qataris, to question their own genetic origins, in a country where nationals enjoy a special status compared to the 90% foreign workforce living on its soil.

Company House. This house, once the headquarters of the country's first oil company, tells the story of the pioneers, the early explorers who discovered the first geysers of black gold at Dukhan, which shaped the country's wealth into an incredible economic boom. There is a wealth of period artefacts used by the Qataris employed on the site. An annex house houses temporary exhibitions. The one on Qatari women explained in three generations was remarkable when we visited.

Mohammed Bin Jassim House. Built by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Jassim Al-Thani, son of the founder of modern Qatar, this house immerses visitors in the Msheireb of yesteryear. This once anarchic, dusty city center, bristling with heterogeneous Art Deco buildings, was the soul of Doha. Screens that light up as we enter the museum make us converse with holograms that bear witness to this history. The first immigrants recount the lively neighborhood life of the 1970s and 1980s. One room is entirely dedicated to video projections of the enormous construction site that first razed everything and then transformed a gaping hole into a new eco-designed neighborhood inspired by oriental architecture. A never-ending ballet of cranes that lasts, even in accelerated mode, such was the scale of the work.

Radwani House. This house, built in the 1920s, is one of the oldest still standing in Doha. It was designed to explain traditional Qatari life before the oil revolution. Each room (living room, kitchen, stable, etc.) displays the everyday objects used by these modest pearl-fishing people, as well as handicrafts. Unlike the other houses, which are full of explanations, here you can wander around without reading a single line about the country's habits and customs. It's best to come with a guide to find out more.