Meknes

Meknes is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco. We stayed in another beautiful riad there.

Meknes was founded in the 11th century by the Almoravids.

Meknes became the capital of Morocco in the 17th century under the Alaouite dynasty. The green building is the Grand mosque of Meknes.

Moulay Isma'il Sharif moved the capital there from Fes because he originally governed Meknes and had a power-base there. Succession of sultans often involved conquering cities aligned with rival claimants to the throne.

Berber tagine

The market streets are quiet early in the morning.

Thread makers spin their wares on nails throughout the market.

One of Meknes' many gates

The Mausoleum of Moulay Isma'il is the highlight of Meknes' sights. We went when it opened and there was no one but a caretaker inside.

The mausoleum is located in the city's citadel.

Moulay Isma'il used tens of thousands of Christian prisoners of war to rebuild Meknes as an enormous palace-city.

His city did not thrive long; the capital was moved back to Fes when Moulay Isma'il died, and an earthquake caused severe damage in 1755.

Moulay Isma'il had a harem of over 500 women and had over 800 children.

He fought against his European and Ottoman foes using an army of black-African slave soldiers.

The city was undergoing extensive redevelopment of the Kasbah so very little of it was easily accessible.

Eventually the prisons, water basin, horse stables, and grain silos will be open again.

It is easy to hire a taxi for a day to take you to nearby Moulay Idriss and Volubilis. On to the next stop!