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| IMPERIAL CITIES The famous Imperial cities are the four cities that have been capitals of Morocco through centuries. Loaded of history and monuments each one of them has its own and different character. RABAT This city of Morocco since 1912 is an elegant and calm city that contrasts with its exciting past. It was founded on 10th century as a Ribat (fortified monastery) and was the Yacub al-Mansur’s capital on 12th century and Mohammed ben Abdallah’s capital on 17th century. It was populated since 3rd b. C.; it lodged a Phoenician port, later Carthaginian and finally Roman. No traveller eager to deep in Rabat must forget to approach to the Royal Palace and to visit the Mohammed V Mausoleum, the Medina and its souk –protected in the south by the Andalusian’s Wall-, the Oudaias’ fortress with its monumental door, the Museum of Moroccan Arts, the National Museum of Crafts and the Café Moor, ideal to rest taking spearmint tea and an exquisite horn of gazelle; the Hassan tower and its esplanade, rest of the unfinished mosque of Almansur. FES It’s the first of the Imperial cities and goes back to the 8th century. It’s also the first city of Moslem’s cult in Morocco and has one of the oldest universities in the world. All these novelties make Fes a particularly attractive city by its cultural power, still living and influential today. Between its monuments the mosques of Karaouine and of Andalusia, built –according to the legend- by two heiresses of an exiled kairuani in the 9th century occupy a very outstanding place. You’ll also visit numerous Medersas (Koranic schools) like the Chahrij, Bouinania –with its clock of wall with carillon dated from 1357) and specially the Attarin, all of them built between the 13th and 17th centuries by three different dynasties. Worth visiting are also the Museum of Maroccan Art (Batha) and the Museum of Arms (Bordj Nord). MEKNÉS Meknassa ez-Zeitoun (Meknassa of the Olive trees) is a Berber foundation from the 9th century, but until 1069 it does not take its true character when the Almoravids built a bastion and a fortress. After sieges, conquests, abandonments and reconstructions Meknes reaches its apogee under the reign of Mulay Ismail. This Alaoui sultan, contemporary of the Sun King Louis XIV of France, embellished Meknes endowing it with walls with monumental doors, gardens, mosques, fortresses, and his first palace, Dar Kebira. The result is one of the most beautiful and fascinating cities of Morocco. After crossing the walls, getting lost in the medina and haggling in the souks, the traveller must turn directly towards the Mulay Ismail’s Mausoleum, the doors of Bab el Mansur, Bab Berdain and Bab el Jemis, the Pool of Adgal, the Medersa Bou Inania, the fabulous Gardens of the Sultans, the barns (Heri es-Suani), the gigantic stables and the Museum of Moroccan Art in Dar Jamai. MARRAKECH Marrakech is one of the cities preferred by Spanish tourists and the one that gave its name to all the country. The origins of the city are dark, but it is commonly accepted that it began as a military camp established by Abu Bekr, a great Almoravid head, in 1070. His cousin and successor, Yusef ben Tachfin, begun the task of turning the primitive oasis in a capital worthy of his empire, extended from the Atlantic to Algeria and from the Sahara to the Ebro. The Almohad conquest almost made disappear the first constructions that were replaced by others, many of which we can still admire today. The enumeration of the places and monuments of Marrakech can be interminable. But it can occur to an idea of its wealth and variety mentioning the Jemaa el Fna Square (absolutely indispensable to submerge in it and in the near souk), the Mosque Koutoubia and its minaret (twin of the Giralda), the Ben Youssef’s Medersa, the Menara, the Dar Si Said Museum, the Garden of the Agdal, the Saadians’ Tombs and the Palaces of Badi and Bahia. If the trip occurs in the month of June, you cannot miss the National Festival of Folklore that reunites the best expressions of music, singing and popular dance in Marrakech. For your reservation in Ferrimaroc: Muelle de Ribera s/n - 04002 - Almería. Or in any travel agency in your own city. If you need some information: Phone: 950 27 48 00 / Fax: 950 27 63 66 |
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