Theme Week Morocco – Meknes

25 July 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  10 minutes

Bab Mansour Gate © flickr.com - Chris Martin/cc-by-sa-2.0

Bab Mansour Gate © flickr.com – Chris Martin/cc-by-sa-2.0

Meknes is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th century by the Almoravids as a military settlement, Meknes became a capital under the reign of Sultan Moulay Ismaïl (1672–1727), the founder of the Alaouite dynasty. Using European slave labour Sultan Moulay Ismaïl turned it into an impressive city in Spanish-Moorish style, surrounded by high walls with great doors, where the harmonious blending of the Islamic and European styles of the 17th century Maghreb are still evident today. The urban population is estimated at more than 650,000 with the metropolitan population close to 1,000,000. It is the seat of Meknès Prefecture and an important economic pole in the region of Fès-Meknès.   read more…

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