Msheireb Properties, a subsidiary of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, said the historic Eid prayer ground located at its flagship Downtown Doha development in Qatar will be open to the public for the Eid Al Adha prayers.

Msheireb Downtown Doha is a QR20-billion ($5.43 billion) regeneration project in Doha’s historical commercial centre.

The mixed-use development comprises more than 100 buildings with a combination of commercial and residential properties, retail, cultural and entertainment areas, said a statement from the developer.

The aim of the project is to revive the old commercial district by recapturing Qatar’s heritage and architectural traditions, it added.  

Abdulla Hassan Al Mehshadi, the chief executive at Msheireb Properties, said: "We are looking forward to seeing this holy ground being a centre piece for the community where people can come together in celebrating this significant occasion in the Islamic calendar."

The prayer ground presents a long, relatively low frontage to the street and is the scale of an entire urban block. It forms a backdrop for the picturesque fort building when viewed from the souq and defines the edge of the open space used as the car park.

Last century, the Eid prayer ground was located at the edge of the old downtown, occupying a position adjacent to the burial ground and Al Koot fort in Qatar's capital Doha.

As the city developed during the oil boom, the space was formalised with an enclosing wall, which can be seen in some of the earliest aerial photographs of the city, stated Al Mehshadi.

Today many of the historic buildings within the old town have been re-constructed or refurbished, creating a unique urban townscape that to a large extent defines the historic identity of central Doha, he added.-TradeArabia News Service