Atlantic Coast - Morocco - page 367

Information

26 Algerian Embassy F5

27 Belgian Embassy F5

28 Dutch Embassy E5

29 French Consulate B5

30 French Embassy B6

31 Italian Embassy F4

32 Spanish Embassy C6

33 Tunisian Embassy E5

34 UK Embassy E4

35 US Embassy F5

Sights

Medina

Rabat's walled medina, all there was of the city when the French arrived in the early 20th
century, is a rich mixture of spices, carpets, crafts, cheap shoes and bootlegged DVDs.
Built on an orderly grid in the 17th century, it may lack the more intriguing atmosphere of
the older medinas of the interior, but it's a great place to roam, with no aggressive selling.
The main market street is Rue Souika, lined with food and spice shops at the western
end, then textiles and silverware as you head east. The Souq as-Sebbat OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP (Jewellery Souq) specialises in gaudy gold and begins roughly at Rue Bab Chel-
lah. The Grande Mosquée OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP (off Rue Bab Chellah) , a 14th-century
Merenid original that has been rebuilt in the intervening years, is just down this road to
the right.
If you continue past the Rue des Consuls (so called because diplomats lived here until
1912), you'll come to the mellah (Jewish quarter) with an interesting flea market going
down to Bab el-Bahr and the river. Turning north along Rue des Consuls is one of the
more interesting areas of the medina, with craft shops and some of the grand diplomatic
residences. After the carpet souq OFFLINE MAP

GOOGLE MAP the street ends in an open area