Rabat was a positive surprise to us. The capital of Morocco is a very green and beautiful city and has many interesting places to visit. We had found a paid parking just next to the walled Medina (34.024050, -6.841549), where we started our explorations, walking through the Medina on busy streets with many shops and people strolling around. After leaving the Medina on the other side, we stood in front of The Kasbah of the Udayas, a citadel built by the Almohads, especially famous for its beautiful gate.
Through the with-washed houses of the Kasbah, we tried to find a famous café, and finally we succeeded. At the wall of the Kasbah, with view of the river, you can sit on little tables and are served tea, coffee and typical sweet treats. (34.030531, -6.835097)
Next to the café and still inside the Kasbah, lies the pavilion residence built by Sultan Moulay Isma’il (1672–1727). Today, the palace houses the National Museum of Jewellery. Beside of jewelleries, we saw beautiful old dresses, adornments mostly for weddings.
We took a different route back through the Medina, taking more quiet streets, stopping for a last juice at a little shop. Later, we drove along the Avenue Mohammed V., where we admired the administrative buildings from the post office to the train station. Through a lovely residential area, we finally reached the abandoned construction site of a mosque, called the Hasan tower.
The tower was intended to be the minaret of a mosque, commissioned by Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, the third caliph of the Almohad Caliphate, near the end of the 12th century. The tower was intended to be the largest minaret in the world, and the mosque, if completed, would have been the largest in the western Muslim world at that time. Sadly, Abu Yusuf died and the construction stopped.
We had enjoyed our visit to Rabat, and will now continue our way north – more soon!