Rabat, two thousand years of history

An imperial city after Fez, Marrakesh and Meknes, Rabat’s many monuments are testimony to its rich, ancient history.

The Phoenicians already knew the estuary whose depth offered a protective waterway for their vessels on a coast which had none at all. They came there to fetch animal skins and salted fish 800 years B. e. The Carthaginians next created a fish preserve between 475 and 450 B.C. People, however, only settled in numbers there with the arrival of the Romans, founders of Sala Colonia. This small town was the southernmost point of trade for cereals, oil, wool and clay objects. It was partly abandoned in the 4th century and was dying.

During the 9th and 10th centuries, the Zenete Berbers who reigned in Fès and the schismatic Kharidjites who were established in Rabat fought one another there. The latter built a ribat or fortress on the south bank that would eventually end up being taken by the masters of Fès. Too far away from the Saharan trade routes and from the power of Fès, Rabat was eventually forsaken by its new rulers.

In the 12th century, the Almohades waged a jihad and longed to acquire Andalusia and Tunisia. To realize their ambition, they needed a fleet to cross the straits. Abdel Moumen rediscovered the Bou Regreg estuary. He rebuilt the ribat and outfitted a new fleet that he launched against Spain. There he stopped the Andalusian advance in 1148. Then, 200,000 men set sail for Tunisia where they pushed the Normans all the way back to Sicily. From that time, the Ribat was both a fortress and a monastery, from which the warrior monks launched intermittent expeditions against Spain.

The Almohades called their fortress town Ribat El Fath or camp of victory. This encampment continued to be enlarged and embellished through conquest. Nevertheless, it was the Oudaïas, an Arabic tribe, which would establish itself there in the future and which would give its name to it. Yacoub El Mansour, reigning sovereign in Marrakesh, decided to make of this coastal city a major regional capital. In order to protect the Ribat, he built a network of ramparts whose only opening was the monumental Bab Al Rouah, the gate of winds. He ordered as well the construction of Hassan Tower, but he did not see it to its end.

The surging back of the Almohades signaled the decline of Rabat, warrior city, while nearby Salé prospered through trade with Europe in animal skins, spices and woolen materials. Bab Mrisa in Salé, whose exceptional height allowed ships to enter an exit the port without lowering their masts, with its launching towers and its shattering arrows, is often attributed to the Merinides.

This tribe entered Rabat and Salé in July 1258, but pa id it no heed. It was only at the beginning of the 14th century that Abou Said decided to raise a fortress on the site of the old Sala Colonia which he gave the actual name of Chellah.
He built the gate and the ramparts, and his son, Abou El Hassan, the mosque. This son also built the Medersa of Salé in 1341, remarkable for its stuccowork in the shape of honeycombs and its cedar wood carvings. He also enlarged the Mosque of Salé which had been built originally by the Almohades. During this same century two famous « koubbas » (memorial tombstones for a « marabout » or Muslim healer) were erected, the one dedicated to Sidi Benachir, a refugee from Andalusia, and the other to Sidi Abdellah Ben Hassan, patron saint of sailors whose feast day is still celebrated every year.

This cult grew because the sailors wrote about the glorious times of Salé. The Merinides retreated to Fès, and the Saadiens who emerged in the 16th century allowed privateering to develop. The Hornacheros, chased from Andalusia, found refuge in Salé and Rabat. This latter city was so entirely eclipsed by its rival that it changed its name to « New Salé ». The pirates based in Salé pillaged the Atlantic from the Canaries to the English Channel and insured the continuing oppulence of the city. The Almohades and Merinides houses were rebuilt; and these two cosmopolitan towns on the estuary sheltered Christian mercenaries, refugee Jews, Moors, and Blacks from Timbuctoo .

The privateering received the benediction of the sultan Moulay Ismael who even contributed a corps of Black slaves to the Oudaïas. He built there a Palace which today houses the Museum of Moroccan Arts. In Rabat, this first political recognition of the town resulted in the Mechouar,Thereafter the buildings housing the palace itself, the Secretariat, the supreme Court, the Presidency of the Council, and the various services of the Royal Cabinet were constructed. The mosque Assounna was due to the same sovereign. King Hassan II has recently renovated it. In 1790, the capital was once again transferred to Fès. Rabat would only return to its former prominence after Marshal Lyautey established his residence there. He engaged wood and stucco sculptors to restore the buildings of Rabat and Salé and determined to preserve the medinas which bad been damaged by the European constructions. Henri Prost, the Protectorate’s Town-Planner, designed new quarters with large and spacious areas. These improved the look of the new Art Deco buildings, embellished with Moorish decorations, such as the Post Office, the Chambre of Deputies and the Bank of Morocco.

The choice of Rabat as the capital was confirmed by the late Mohamed V with the coming of independance. Rabat is today a dynamic capital which boasts more than 800,000 inhabitants, attracted by the presence of government ministries, administration and treasury buildings. City of civil servants, Rabat does not suffer from the presence of major industries which are set farther away. Previously an indolent city, it has not escaped by the end of this century the turbulence of modern life.

The medina of Rabat

Not that well known, the medina of Rabat is nevertheless an ideal place to stroll and to shop. Although not as popular as the medinas of Fes and Marrakech, it still offers both tourists and natives streets filled with charm.
Particularly lively, souika Street is lined with cafes and small! Food shops, covered with woven reeds, Es Sebat market is well known for slip¬pers and fine leather goods. The shaded cover only allows a bit of sunshine to filter through, creating a somewhat fantastic atmosphere, perpendicular to it is the Street of the Consuls, so named because up until 1912 it was where the representatives of foreign governments resided. Carpets from Rabat, tapestries from Sale, hammered and perforated copper, embossed leather and silk embroideries dazzle the eye and tempt passersby. Every Monday and Thursday, carpets are auctioned. A cul de sac opens on to this street. it is ca lied the Dead-end of the French Consulate in memory of the poet Andre Chenier who lived at number 62. He represented the interests of the French monarch in Morocco at the end of the 18th century. Behind the Street of the Consuls is hidden an amazing district that deserves a detour. Far from the liveliness of the market, narrow streets are sheltered by high white walls that are enhanced by vivid blue win¬dow shutters that along with wooden doors sculpted by Muslims who had come back from Spain plunge the passerby back into the 17th century .

The medina of Rabat has seduced more than one visitor as seen by c. Mauclair’s story, « The Colors of Morocco, » extracted from « Rabat-Sale in the 1925’s.In Sidi Fatah Street, I rested from the general uproar in the street and took shelter under the transverse vault of a mosque. The vault is a marvellous ceiling in sculpted and illuminated wood over a façade that is chiselled, polychromatic, and created with strange and exquisite taste (…) I climbed up to Andre Cheniers house, our first envoy in Rabat. There I searched for a bit of cool shade in the charming Kisaria laid out around a per¬fumed patio that contained a tea service in copper or silver, carpets and ceremonial arms. The place is discreet and pleasant.

Seated under the arch, I meditated there on the violent crowd outside that did not resemble anything of ours. It was a delirium of colors where every second the light gave off magical highlights. I felt myself free as well as lost in that crowd, whose rhythm escapes like it does in language and from the soul. It was so beautiful. »

To visit the souks

Leaving Hassan Il Boulevard, take Sidi Fatah Street, and then turn right on to Souika Street. Three hundred meters on, you come upon Es Sebat market, known for its shoes, jewelers and its fine leather goods. Fifty meters further on, turn left to follow the Street of the Consuls on which local craftsmen hawk their wares, carpets, copper products, and leather. Between numbers 30 and 32, take the side street into the old 17th century neighborhood.