Morocco Travel Guide

HISTORIC    SITE

LANDMARK

HISTORIC    SITE

The palace  itself  is  a   grand   17th-century    affair  built   by  Moulay  Ismail. The building    now houses  the Musée   des Oudaias

Offline map^ Google map^ (  admission   Dh10)   ,   the national    jewellery   museum  with    a   fascinating collection  of  prehistoric,

Roman   and Islamic jewellery   found   in  the different   regions of  Morocco.

EAST OF THE CENTRE

Le Tour Hassan

Offline map Google  map (Hassan Tower;  Click   here )  Towering    above   Oued    Bou Regreg, and

surrounded by well-tended gardens, is Rabat’s most famous landmark. The Almohads’ most
ambitious project would have been the second-largest mosque of its time, after Samarra in
Iraq, but Sultan Yacoub al-Mansour died before it was finished. He intended a 60m-tall minaret,
but the tower was abandoned at 44m. The mosque was destroyed by an earthquake in 1755,
and today only a forest of shattered pillars testifies to the grandiosity of Al-Mansour’s plans.
The tower is built to the same design as the Giralda in Seville, and the Koutoubia in Marrakesh.

Mausoleum of Mohammed V

Offline map Google  map (   admission   free;    sunrise-sunset)    Near    the tower   stands  this    marble

mausoleum, built in traditional Moroccan style. The present king’s father (the late Hassan II)
and grandfather have been laid to rest here. The decoration, despite the patterned zellij and
carved plaster, gives off an air of tranquillity. Visitors to the mausoleum must be respectfully
dressed, and can look down into the tomb from a gallery.

Chellah

Offline map Google  map (   cnr Ave Yacoub  al-Mansour  &   Blvd    Moussa  ibn Nassair;    admission

Dh10; 9am-5.30pm) Abandoned, crumbling and overgrown, the old Roman city of Sala
Colonia Offline map Google map and the Merenid necropolis of Chellah is one of Rabat’s most
evocative sights. The Phoenicians were the first to settle on the grassy slopes above the river,
but the town grew when the Romans took control in about AD 40. The city was abandoned in
1154 in favour of Salé, but in the 14th century the Merenid sultan Abou al-Hassan Ali built a
necropolis on top of the Roman site and surrounded it with the towers and defensive wall that
stand today.

Overgrown by fruit trees and wild flowers, it is an atmospheric place to roam around. From
the main gate, a path heads down through fragrant fig, olive and orange trees to a viewing
platform that overlooks the ruins of the Roman city. Making out the structures takes a bit of
imagination, but the mystery is part of the magic of this place. A path leads through the ruins of
the triple-arched entrance known as the Arc de Triomphe, past the Jupiter Temple (to the left)
and to the forum (at the end of the main road), while another goes to the octagonal Pool of the
Nymph, part of the Roman system of water distribution.

Far easier to discern are the remains of the Islamic complex , with its elegant minaret now
topped by a stork’s nest. An incredible colony of storks has taken over the ruins, lording over
the site from their tree-top nests. If you visit in spring, the clacking bills of mating pairs is a
wonderful soundtrack to a visit.

Near    the ruined  minaret is  the tomb    of  Abou    al-Hassan   Ali and his wife,   complete    with