Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
City Walls and Gates
The city walls date from the 1120s when, under
threat of attack from the Almohads of the south,
the ruling Almoravid sultan, Ali Ben Youssef
decided to encircle his garrison town with
fortifications. The walls he had built were up to
9 m (30 ft) high and formed a circuit of 10 km
(6 miles), punctuated by some 200 towers and
20 gates. Despite changes made in the 20th
century to accommodate motor vehicles, the
walls remain largely unchanged.
Top 10 Features
1 Pisé
2 Bab Agnaou
3 Bab El Rob
4 Bab Doukkala
5 Bab Berrima
6 Bab Debbagh
7 Bab El Khemis
8 The Seven Saints
9 Dar El Haoura
0 Calèche tours
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Pisé
The walls are built from
a mixture of mud, straw
and lime (known as pisé),
which becomes as hard as
brick on drying. The distin-
ctive pinkish-red hue of the
walls
(below)
is a result of
pigments in the local earth.
Bab Doukkala
Walking a circuit
around the outside
of the walls is tiring
and can be
unpleasant as they
are edged by major
roads. Better to visit
the gates indivi-
dually or take a
calèche tour.
@
Bab Agnaou
If you take a calèche
ride around the
walls, make sure that
you carry bottled
water, as it can get
hot and dusty.
The most beautiful city
gate, the “Gate of the
Gnawa , is the only stone-
built one
(right)
. It was erec-
ted during Almohad sultan
Yacoub El Mansour's reign.
Bab El Rob
£
• Medina
• Bab Debbagh:
permission required to
access the roof (not
always open to visitors)
• Calèche rides: Place
Foucault, off Jemaa El
Fna; Prices are listed
for specific tours, or
negotiate an hourly rate
of about 90 Dh
This was the original
southern city gate
(right).
The gatehouse building is
now occupied by a pottery
shop and all foot and car
traffic pass through a mod-
ern breach in the old walls.
$
Bab Doukkala
This massive gate
(top
left)
built by the Almoravids
in the 12th century now
stands isolated from the
walls, thanks to 20th-
century urban planning. The
cavernous interior rooms
lend themselves for use as
a sometime event space.
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