KATARA VILLAGE

The Katara project. It was born of an idea: to create a cultural and entertaining village, open to all the arts. To baptize such a space, we needed a name that sounded good. The term "Catara" appeared in Ptolemy's writings in the ^2nd century AD, and became Katara among French cartographers. Adopted! Katara, subtitled "the valley of cultures", even though it's a very flat surface. The people who thought up this project had travelled around the world ten times in a First and came back with the idea that a seafront with restaurants and a few cultural highlights was a good way of speeding up the leisure and tourism industry. Art, an enzymatic factor in the transubstantiation of gas-oil into social and cultural intelligence, is at the origin of this "purple economy". But here, cultural curiosity is lived in ultra-dry fashion, with long sleeves for the ladies. The result is a rather vast area, built around a waterfront and beach. The metro is in front of the Katara Plaza mall, while free golf carts take you from one end of the complex to the other.

Waterfront and beach. For the moment, it's very hot on this waterfront, which is pebbled like a Languedoc beach, bordered by a theater of Mussolinian proportions, paved with an equally oversized promenade. The public beach is equipped with the latest inflatables and gliders, deckchairs, straw huts, shisha bars and more. You need to come to Katara at weekends, as it's deserted during the day. Burkini or other clothing is de rigueur on the beach - no sunbathing here!

Bars and restaurants. Set back a little from the promenade, you'll find the terraces of restaurants such as the famous Lwzaar fish market, where the poor crustaceans are weighed in front of you before being scalded. Then there's the great amphitheater on one side and a huge staircase lit up at night leading to the Boho Social restaurant at the top.

The cultural village. You lose yourself in the residential lanes where you'll find a few shops, pleasant shade and art galleries, such as the Cultural Village Foundation Katara, with its two modest rooms. In fact, it's deserted during the day.

Katara Masjid and Gold Masjid. Designed by Turkish architect Zainab Fadil Oglu, this mosque is magnificent: its decoration is inspired by the Dolma Palace in Istanbul, and its façade of bluish mosaics is sumptuous. Also in the Katara village, the surprising minaret of the Gold Masjid, covered with small golden mosaic tiles, sparkling in the sunlight.

Al Thuraya Planetarium. Right in the heart of the village of Katara, this planetarium offers free 3D or 4D documentary films on astronomy and the universe, as well as sessions for children, all in Arabic with English subtitles. Sessions are free, but reservations are required. A small museum at the entrance immerses visitors in the cosmic atmosphere.

Adjoining theKatara Village isthe Katara Plaza, in the style of a monumental Franco-Italian folly of antiquity and neoclassicism. It houses the three-storey Galeries Lafayette, whose letters are displayed beneath the building's immense copper dome. Spanning 38,000^m2, it is centered on a wide street, 21 High-Street, and boasts some 40 boutiques due to open in 2022, including many luxury brands and an Evian spa.