Meknes Essential: The Bab Mansour Triumphal Gate, the Moulay Ismail Mausoleum, the Imperial City Walls, the Heri es-Souani Royal Granaries, and the Forgotten Imperial Capital
The Meknes essential circuit covers the Bab Mansour as the most elaborate single triumphal gate in the Moroccan architectural tradition, the Moulay Ismail Mausoleum as the most sacred single imperial tomb accessible to non-Muslims in Morocco, the Imperial City walls and enclosures, the Heri es-Souani royal granaries and stables, and the Meknes character as the most undervisited single Moroccan imperial city.
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Bab Mansour: The Most Elaborate Moroccan Gate
Bab Mansour al-Aleuj, completed in 1732 under Sultan Moulay Ismail and the most elaborate single triumphal gate in the Moroccan architectural tradition, is the most photographically iconic single structure in Meknes and the gate that most completely expresses the Moulay Ismail imperial ambition with the massive horseshoe arch flanked by the most elaborately ornamented single gateway towers in Morocco, the green and white zellige tile mosaic, and the reused marble columns from the Roman Volubilis ruins that Moulay Ismail stripped to build his capital. The Bab Mansour name (Gate of the Victorious) and the Ale uj suffix (the renegade, referring to the architect who was a converted Christian slave) make it the most mythologically named single Moroccan architectural monument.
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Moulay Ismail Mausoleum: The Imperial Tomb
The Moulay Ismail Mausoleum in the Imperial City, the tomb of Sultan Moulay Ismail (ruled 1672-1727, the most powerful single Alaouite sultan) and the most sacred single imperial tomb in Morocco, is one of only two Moroccan mausoleums accessible to non-Muslim visitors (the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca being the other) because Moulay Ismail's diplomatic legacy with the European Christian powers (he negotiated the return of Moroccan slaves from the European Christian nations) created the tradition of the non-Muslim visitor respect. The mausoleum interior, with the tiled courtyard, the cedar carved ceiling, and the prayer hall with the sultan tomb, is the most serene single imperial interior in Meknes.
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Imperial City: The Moulay Ismail Versailles
The Meknes Imperial City (Dar al-Makhzen, the Royal Palace complex) that Moulay Ismail built to rival the Versailles of Louis XIV (with whom he exchanged diplomatic missions in 1682) covers 12,000 hectares and contains the most extensive single royal palace precinct in the Arab world with 25 kilometers of walls, 50 palaces, 20 gate complexes, and the most completely self-contained single imperial city in North Africa. The comparison with Versailles is the most frequently used single historical reference in the Meknes guidebook tradition because the two rulers were exact contemporaries (Moulay Ismail ruled 1672-1727, Louis XIV ruled 1643-1715) and both employed the most extravagant single royal building programs of their era.
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Heri es-Souani: The Royal Granaries and Stables
The Heri es-Souani (royal granaries and stables of Moulay Ismail) is the most impressive single industrial-scale royal agricultural infrastructure in Morocco with the 12-meter high arched vaulted chambers that stored the grain for the 12,000 horses of the royal stable, the underground cistern that provided the evaporative cooling to preserve the grain in the most architecturally sophisticated single pre-modern Moroccan food storage system. The scale of the Heri es-Souani ruins - the most massive single roofless interior in Morocco covering 50,000 square meters of vaulted space - is the most reliable single indicator of the Moulay Ismail imperial scale.
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Meknes Medina: The Undervisited Imperial City
The Meknes old medina (UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996), smaller and less touristically developed than the Fes or the Marrakech medinas, is the most navigable single imperial city medina in Morocco for the independent traveler and the medina that most directly preserves the late 17th and early 18th century Moroccan urban fabric without the tourist infrastructure overlay. The Meknes medina is the most frequently recommended single Moroccan medina by the Moroccan cultural traveler who has already visited Fes and Marrakech and seeks the most authentic single traditional medina without the commercial tourism pressure.
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Meknes Role: The Fourth Imperial City
Meknes is the most undervalued single imperial city in Morocco despite being the fourth of the four imperial capitals (with Fes, Marrakech, and Rabat) because the Moulay Ismail imperial building program, the most ambitious single royal construction project in Moroccan history, has produced the most under-visited single UNESCO World Heritage urban area in the country. The Meknes character - the most straightforward single medina navigation, the most reasonable single accommodation price, the least commercial single medina shopping pressure, and the Volubilis day trip only 30 kilometers away - makes it the most underrated single Moroccan travel experience for the visitor who has already done the standard Morocco tourist circuit.