As part of our commitment to reach out to the community, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar has developed this Web site to highlight the heritage of the State of Qatar.

A small, desert peninsula known mostly for its vast fossil fuels, Qatar is also rich with ancient buildings, cultural museums and large archaeological areas. This Web site invites people in Qatar, as well as the rest of the world, to learn about and visit some of the most important sites in Qatar’s history.

Twenty-one heritage sites including forts, mosques, archaeological areas, traditional houses, museums and souqs, are showcased with both photos and a written description. The site also includes maps of each site, driving directions and GPS coordinates.

This project is groundbreaking in that it is the first collaborative project between Carnegie Mellon Qatar, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar and Qatari officials.

Research Associate Carla Salman-Martinez led a team made up of Web designer Hatem Alismail, a computer science student at Carnegie Mellon Qatar; graphic designers Eman Yousif and Fatima Al-Kuwair, both students in graphic design at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, and Architect Guido Licciardi, specialist in cultural heritage preservation.

Carnegie Mellon Qatar would like to thank the Qatar Museums Authority’s Restoration Department and Antiquities Department, the Qatar National Museum, the Emiri Diwan, and the Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al-Thani Museum for their participation, support and expertise in the research and development of this site.

We hope residents and visitors find the Web site useful and entertaining. And, more importantly, that it encourages everyone to experience all that Qatar has to offer.