Rabat, Morocco

 Rabat
Dec 132019
 

December 13, 2019

Day 2 in Rabat was spent finding a few more UNESCO World Heritage sites and exploring a little history.

Chellah

The entry to the Chellah

Chellah is a walled ruin of a town that was designated a World Heritage Site in 2012, it houses both Roman ruins and a medieval Muslim necropolis. Abandoned in 1154 and damaged further by the Lisbon earthquake in 1755 it is an interesting site to visit, with the storks’ nests being the most interesting thing of all.

Chellah once sat on the Bou Regreg (now a little over a mile away) and was built by the Romans in around 40 CE  It may have previously been a site occupied by the Phoenicians or Carthaginians as early as the 3rd century BCE.

It was one of the two main Roman naval ports on the Atlantic and lay on one of the two Roman roads in Morocco that led down from what is now modern Tangier. It contained a principal Roman way (the Decumanus Maximus), a temple (to Jupiter), a forum and a triumphal arch.

The area remained linked to the Roman Empire even after the withdrawal in the 4th century of the occupying Roman legions. A Roman military unit remained there until the end of the 5th century.

The Chella continued to exist as a town of the Christianized Berbers but was mostly in ruins when the Muslim Arabs arrived in the 7th century. The Byzantine governor of the area surrendered to the Arabs in 683. With the extinction of the Umayyad dynasty in 1031, the Almoravids assumed control of the Maghreb (present-day Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco) and erected new buildings.

White storks nesting on the minaret

By 1147, the Almoravids had been overthrown by the Berber Almohads, who used the site as a royal burial ground. It was made a sacred necropolis, or chellah, by the Marinids in the 13th century; the Muslim sanctuary complex of a mosque, minaret, and royal tombs was finished in 1284. The tall minaret of the now-ruined mosque was built of stone and zellige tilework.

There is a considerable amount of recreation (in the name of restoration) taking place on the necropolis of Chellah.  While I realize this has been going on since the beginning of Archeology, I worry that history is being destroyed in order to make the ruins more understandable to the public.

Today the site is a tourist destination with a small garden area.

The site is littered with Roman columns and statues, often with Latin inscriptions.

The White stork  (Ciconiaciconia) population at Chella consists of approximately 75 nests inside the site and 25 nests outside.  The nest’s renewal rate is around 7% per year, and they prefer to be grouped together with nests close to each other.

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Bastion of Tears

The fortifications that ring much of Sale (the commuter town just over the river from Rabat) were built out of necessity brought on after a two-week siege with Spaniards. On February 2nd, 1260, 12 Spanish ships anchored just off of Sale, and while the locals were celebrating the end of Ramadan, they rushed in killed many and rounded up over 3000 to be shipped off to Saville as slaves.

A prison, built under the bastion by Sale pirates used to be filled with slaves who were sold in North African markets. The remnants of a city that was renowned for being an international hub of piracy, looting and slavery for centuries.

A cemetery sits under much of the wall that runs along the seashore and wraps much of the town of Sale

Jardin d’Essais

Listed as one of the sites of Rabat that make it a UNESCO World Heritage site is this “Test Garden”.  The Jardin d’ Essais, or literally the Garden of Botanical Trials is the largest public garden in Rabat.

A beautiful greenway cuts through part of the garden making for a perfect place to stroll

Created between 1914 and 1919, under a joint initiative of the sultan  Moulay Hafid and the French Protectorate, the garden was designed by Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier.

After having gone through extensive renovations due to years of neglect the gardens were reopened in 2013. The over 600 species of plants include rare varieties of tropical, sub-tropical, succulents, and an arboretum.

Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier developed an arboretum at Vincennes and the gardens of the Champ-de-Mars below the Eiffel Tower. In 1925 he became Inspector of Gardens for the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts and undertook projects in the Americas. In 1925, Forestier moved to Havana for five years to collaborate with architects and landscape designers.  In Spain, he designed the Maria Luisa Park in Seville and the gardens of La Casa del Rey Moro in Ronda.

The Botanical Garden

In 1951, Marcel François, a French horticultural engineer bought 10 acres of flat and exposed land in Sale and opened the  Sidi Bouknadel Exotic Gardens, a horticultural and artistic achievement declared a national cultural heritage site in 2003. Francois, traveled collecting plants from China, South Asia, the Savannah, Congo, Japan, Brazil, and Polynesia. He then set about duplicating these gardens at Sidi Bouknadal.  Today the garden is more of an overgrown large park with lots of rather fun follies but does not really resemble what I believe may have been there in the 1950s.

Urban Renewal

The Grand Theater, designed by the late  Zaha Hadid can be seen while driving on the bridge between Sale and Rabat.

It is part of the Bou Regreg Valley Development Program, launched by King Mohammed VI in January 2006.

The development project’s purpose is to transform the urban landscape on both sides of the Bou Regreg river.

Covering an area of 15,000 acres, the project contains several other facilities including the Heritage House, the Museum of Archeology, the House of Music and Performing Arts, skate parks, and swimming pools. It also has an ambitious transportation portion with the development of a ring road and an extension of Rabat’s excellent tram system.

A last note.  I have been staying at the Dar Shaan in the Medina and can not say enough good things about it. I highly recommend the Dar Shaan for lodgings and the restaurant La Ziryab, for its exquisite surroundings and wonderful Moroccan food.

Rabat, Morocco

 Morocco, Rabat
Dec 122019
 

December 12, 2019

Rabat is the capital of Morocco and yet it is not really high on the tourism trail.  The major purpose of my visit is that much of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The World Heritage sites included in this post are The Hassan Tower and Mosque, The Tomb of Mohammed V, The Kasbah of the Oudayas and the Medina.

The Hassan Tower and Mosque

The Hassan Tower

What remains of the mosque.

In 1195 Sultan Yacoub al Mansour ordered the construction of the Hassan Tower and mosque.  Mansour had made Rabat the capital of his empire,  built the city walls, restored the Kasbah of the Oudayas and created the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech, this was to be his crowning achievement, the world’s largest mosque with the world’s tallest minaret.

Yaqub al-Mansour was a member of the Almohad Caliphate, a Berber Muslim empire in the Maghreb (Northwest Africa) and Iberia. The tower, according to some traditions, was designed by an astronomer and mathematician named Jabir ibn Aflah who was also supposed to have designed Hassan’s sister tower, the Giralda of Seville in Al Andalus (modern-day Spain). Both of the towers were modeled on the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech but also drew influence from the ancient Egyptian Lighthouse of Alexandria for its height and its series of ramps to facilitate climbing to the top.

Sadly, the sultan died in 1199 and the project was never completed.  What had been accomplished was 145 feet of the minaret and about 200 columns for the mosque. The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 did major damage to what had been left standing.

Guards stand at the entry to the entire site but are there for the tomb of Mohammed V

Mausoleum of Mohammed V

On the same site is the Mohammed V Mausoleum built in the 1950s for Mohammed V and two of his sons, the former King Hassan II and his brother Prince Abdallah.

There are guards at the entry to the tomb, and most everyone felt the need to have their picture taken with them. This particular guard took it all in stride.

Designed by Vietnamese architect Eric Vo Toan, this is often said to be one of the most stunning examples of modern Moroccan architecture from the Alaouite era ( The Alaouite dynasty is the current Moroccan royal family). It is truly spectacular with its white marble calligraphy on the exterior and the plasterwork and marble floors inside, it is worth the time to visit.

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Kasbah des Oudayas

Occupying the oldest part of Rabat is the Kasbah des Oudayas.  It is predominantly a residential area with long winding narrow streets painted in blue and white that look as though an Instagram stylist had been hired to make sure every step you took was a pleasing one.

One of the streets of the Kasbah of the Oudayas.

The Kasbah of the Oudayas

The Kasbah of the Oudaysas was originally built in the 12th century to defend the territory of the Almohad dynasty.  It stands on the banks of the Bou Regreg river, the best location to protect the city from pirate ships and invading forces.

Looking up at the Kasbah of the Oudayas from the waterfront

Sultan Yaqub al-Mansour hired an Arab tribe (the Oudayas) to defend the city. He refortified the structure adding the western ramparts and built a palace for himself. Despite his large investment in the city, the Kasbah of the Oudayas was somewhat deserted after his death.

The courtyard of the palace, which is now used as an art exhibition space

The oldest extant structure in the Kasbah is a mosque. Dating from the 10th century, it was restored in the 18th century using funds from an English pirate known as Ahmed el Inglizi.

Attached to the Kasbah is the Andalusian Garden. This three and one half acre garden was built by the French in 1880 as a gateway to Mansour’s old palace. It is filled with traditional Andalusian flowers and shrubs, including orange, lemon and banana trees.

Rabat is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg, opposite Salé, the city’s main commuter town.  While there is a new motorway, there is also quite a trade in rowing people across the little spit of river.

There is also a small fishing contingent.

Looking out onto the mouth of the river Bou Regreg and the Atlantic Ocean from the Kasbah of the Oudayas.

Interesting flowers in the Andalusian Garden

Trees in the Andalusian Garden

Pottery for sale in the Kasbah

The Medina

A medina quarter is a distinct city section found in a number of North African cities, and in Malta. A medina is typically walled, with many narrow and maze-like streets. The word “medina” simply means “city” or “town” in modern-day Arabic.

As I have been traveling I have noticed that while each Medina has its own flavor, they are all very much alike.  What has struck me is how they are the hub of commerce in so many cities, Rabat included.

As I get bumped around due to the amazing amount of people shopping, for the simplest things, such as socks and underwear, screwdrivers, and coffee pots, I wonder how something like Amazon will change the future of this ancient commerce mecca.

The shoe of Morocco, the traditional slipper, is available from so many stores I lost count.

Hookahs are such a part of life here

What is a medina in Morocco without one hundred rug stores?

Like so many places in North Africa, the doors define the medina

 

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Women making bread are on every street in the medina of Rabat.  This woman is making Msemmen (also called Rghayef or Meloui), a traditional, pancake-like bread.