# The Giant Monoliths Standing in Qatar's Desert > Richard Serra's colossal monoliths in the heart of the Qatari desert have become a pilgrimage site for travellers. Here's how to find them and why they astonish. - URL: https://langandtrip.com.ua/en/article/ohromne-monolyt-stoiashchye-v-pustne-katara/ - Language: en - Published: 2025-06-23 - Categories: Culture, Historic Sites, Tours, Qatar, Animal Rides --- Rising from the scorching, shimmering sands of the western Qatari desert is something alien, colossal and deeply strange. There seems to be no logic to the appearance of four giant monoliths, stretched into the distance along a desert corridor between low limestone cliffs. And yet these metal visitors have somehow taken root in the harsh landscape, lending a majestic dimension to this corner of the tiny Gulf nation. The steel plates, arranged across a kilometre of desert on Qatar's Zekreet peninsula, are the work of Richard Serra, the American artist known for creating striking metal sculptures. Titled "East-West/West-East", these landmarks, standing up to 16.7 metres tall, were installed in 2014 after Qatar's art-loving royal family asked Serra to leave his mark on their country. Several years on, the plates stand as boldly as ever. Coated in rust and scratched with graffiti, yet no less impressive for it. ## A Remote Setting ![Steel monoliths standing in the western Qatari desert](/storage/image/prev/june-article-image-47-1-2025.jpg) Watching over the desert terrain, these sentinels look as though they will stand forever. For their creator, placing the artwork in such a remote spot, where summer temperatures can top 50°C, was both a source of inspiration and a cause for worry. "It's the most significant thing I've ever done," he said at the time of the installation. "It's a piece I would really love to be seen, and I don't know whether that will happen." He needn't have worried. Though it is hardly overrun, "East-West/West-East" has become a place of occasional pilgrimage for locals, tourists and art lovers, joining a list of Qatari desert attractions that includes dune bashing, Bedouin camps and camel rides. Getting there, however, is no easy feat. The nearest major highway is more than five kilometres away. No road leads to the sculpture, and the tracks criss-crossing the surrounding desert carry no clear signs. Anyone making the trip will need a four-wheel drive, which is not usually available for self-drive hire in Qatar. So visitors will need either a local friend with access to some big wheels or a spot on an organised trip, and Qatar Inbound Tours comes highly recommended (Souq Waqif, Souq Asiri, Waqif, Doha; +974 5553 1002). ## A Maze of Tracks ![Sandy desert tracks leading towards the monoliths](/storage/image/prev/june-article-image-47-2-2025.jpg) And unless you're with someone who knows the way, you'll need a GPS device. Despite its size, "East-West/West-East" isn't visible from the main road. The only hint of where to turn off is a sign prosaically pointing the way to "Camel Crossing No. 7". From there you have to pick your route carefully through a maze of rutted tracks in the sand, past the odd camp. This is a bad place for a flat tyre or a breakdown, with few other vehicles around and, aside from lizards and perhaps a stray camel, hardly a living creature in sight. When the sculptures come into view, it all becomes worth it, especially for fans of the classic science-fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey". Because they stand 250 metres apart in a straight line, they grow slowly, each one dwarfing the next in what feels like a deliberate trick of perspective. Up close, they are so tall you have to crane your neck, casting huge shadows that stretch quickly as the hot sun races across the afternoon sky. They are solid enough to absorb a knock with barely a sound, yet viewed from the side they are almost impossible to see. ## A Voice of Defiance ![Graffiti scratched into one of the steel monoliths](/storage/image/prev/june-article-image-47-3-2025.jpg) It's hard to get a real sense of scale without other people nearby, but it's worth making the slightly rocky five-minute climb to the top of the surrounding cliffs to take in the full sweep of the monoliths reaching towards the sea. And if the heat isn't too unbearable, walking the sculpture's full kilometre is a must. Serra's fear of a lack of visitors was clearly unfounded, judging by the amount of graffiti scratched into the metal plates over the years. Though it is hardly an improvement, it has become part of the artwork. Even on a visit back in 2014, some of the graffiti simply declared "I was here", while others were expressions of artistic debate or national pride, with some of the more recent local Qatari additions voicing defiance in the face of regional sanctions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the highest graffiti on one of the plates appeared to be the handiwork of visitors from the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal. While "East-West/West-East" offers plenty to take in, this artwork isn't the only sight the Zekreet peninsula has to offer. ## Desert Mushrooms ![Mushroom-shaped limestone rock formations in the Qatari desert](/storage/image/prev/june-article-image-47-4-2025.jpg) A short drive further west brings you to the Al Reem Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO-protected area said to be home to gazelles, oryx, ospreys and other rare desert wildlife, though they seem hard to spot. Inside, there are more local curiosities. For one, there's Film City, a fortified little town that stands empty in the desert, a Qatari flag flying from a mast on its tallest tower. The gates are usually open, and visitors can stop, explore and, if they're lucky, share a cup of sweet tea with the caretaker. There's no real intrigue to the place. It was built as a filming location and has cropped up now and then in Arabic dramas and promotional clips for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, held in Qatar. Rather more mysterious, at least in appearance, are Qatar's "desert mushrooms", a few kilometres further along the peninsula. Here, centuries of wind erosion have hollowed out a limestone bowl, carving the rocks into beautiful, mushroom-like shapes. One striking feature, known as the "umbrella rock", is an island of weathered stone topped by an out-of-reach structure. This and other small structures in the hollow are recreations of the traditional shelters once used to store dates. These days they are simply the last stop on a tour of one of the most unusual spots in the Persian Gulf. Or a beautiful backdrop for a night spent camping under the stars, swapping tales of the strange things out in the desert.