Al Koot Fort (Doha Fort)

Al Koot Fort, also called Doha Fort, is an Ottoman fort of 1880, rebuilt in 1927, on Jassim bin Mohammed Street in central Doha beside Souq Waqif. Its walls can be seen free at any time and the small museum inside opens by appointment, so a stop takes 20 minutes outside or about an hour with the interior.

The fort stands on Jassim bin Mohammed Street in the old Al Bidda area of central Doha, near the Corniche, on Wadi Musheireb, a dry watercourse that was once a trading place for livestock and goods. The Ottomans built it in 1880 as a police post.

From 1906 the fort served as a jail, partly to protect the nearby market from thieves. The Ottomans abandoned it in 1915, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani, ruler from 1913 to 1949, rebuilt it in 1927. It was then used as a police station, prison and military post until 1977. Refurbishment began in 1978, when the building was turned into a museum.

The fort has a square plan with one rectangular tower and three round towers, all topped with Qatari-style battlements on triangular ledges. Slits in the ledges allowed guards to aim their weapons. In the courtyard is an open-air mosque with no walls or roof, designed so that guards could watch prisoners while they prayed.

The exhibits show traditional Qatari handicrafts, carved wood and gypsum decoration, fishing equipment and boats, and historic photographs and paintings of craftsmen and daily life.

Viewing the fort from outside is free at any time, while the museum interior is open by appointment, arranged by telephone through the number published by Visit Qatar. Souq Waqif and Msheireb stations on the Doha Metro are a short walk away. Evening, when the souq is busiest and the walls are lit, is a good time to pass by; a visit takes under an hour.

Souq Waqif station on the Gold Line is about 400 m away, and Msheireb station, served by all lines, is a short walk; drivers can use the Souq Waqif car parks. The pavements around the fort are level, though the interior has steps in places. The fort has no facilities of its own, but the restaurants, cafés and restrooms of Souq Waqif are 300 m away, and the Museum of Islamic Art is 1.2 km along the Corniche.

Al Koot is an Arabic word for both fort and jail, which suits the building's long service as a prison. After the 1927 rebuild, the open ground to its north-east served for decades as a camel market. Visit Qatar lists the exterior as viewable daily from 8:00 to midnight; to see inside, call +974 4442 4143 to arrange an appointment. The fort is about 16 minutes by car from Hamad International Airport.