Meknès – an imperial town

Meknès is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco, the other ones are Fes, Marrakesh and Rabat. Founded in the 11th century by the Almoravids as a military settlement, Meknès became the capital of Morocco during the reign of Sultan Ismail Ibn Sharif (1672–1727), son of the founder of the Alaouite dynasty.

One of many city walls

Sultan Ismail created a massive imperial palace complex and endowed the city with extensive fortifications and monumental gates. We were looking forward to exploring the city and luckily found a parking next to one of the highlights of the town, the Mausoleum of Moulay Isma’il and his son.

Mausoleum of Moulay Isma’il
Window into the mausoleum

As non-believers, we were not allowed into the mausoleum itself, but could take a glimpse through a window to see the two sarcophagi and the 2 grandfather clocks, a present from King Louis XIV of France.

As the palace area is vast, we decided to hire a carriage, which took us around. We learned, that an international agricultural fair is taking place this year and construction and renovations were everywhere around the palace. The Royal Stables and the big granary with water wheels were therefore closed for visitors.

Kitchen gate of the palace
About 600 storks are living around the palace
Exterior walls of the Heri es-Swani compound – the granery of the palace

Of course, our tour stopped at an arts & crafts shop, where we learned about the technique to use silver wires for decorating plates and vases. We saw examples of the local embroidery introduced by nuns and finally reached the carpet room, where we bought the thickest carpet we could find for our camper. As we have to save on gas, the floor is always cold.

Local embroidery
Moulay Isma’il gate

After our ride, we had only a short walk to the most famous gate of Meknès, Bab Mansour al-‘Alj. It was originally the main ceremonial entrance to the Kasbah. Even here, renovations blocked the view, but seemed mostly done. Behind the gate lay the old wooden doors, completely rotten, which had been exchanged to new ones.

Bab Mansour – the most famous gateway of the city, still under renovation
Lunchbreak with couscous

After strolling through the Medina, we ended our tour back at the Al-Hadeem square, where we visited a former palace, nowadays, the Dar Jamai Museum for musical instruments. The building was at least as interesting as the exhibition.

Inner courtyard of the palace
Ceremonial clothes of an musician

After a last coffee at the square, we walked back to the camper and left Meknès in the direction of Fes.

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