FULL DAY RABAT VISIT 

Royal palace and Royal mosque: the royal palace lies right in the heart of Rabat, and its area is open for trespassing. However, the visit is only from outside to admire the beautiful doors, the real beauty is behind the walls.

The Royal mosque stands close to the Royal Palace, just separated by a wide square. The mosque offers a fine example of Islamic architecture.

Chellah: this walled Merinid necropolis was built between 1310 and 1334. It has five sides with different lengths and 20 towers.  The Black Sultan, Abul Hassan, built the enclosure wall and the gate. This gate is smaller and decorated with carving, and colored marble and tiles, with an octagonal tower on either side above which is a square platform. Abu Youssef Yacoub, the second Merinid Sultan, built a mosque. This mosque consists of a small courtyard, followed by a three-aisled sanctuary in which the Mihrab is straight ahead. The arched doorway on the left has the remains of floral and geometric Zellij in five colors. On the right, there are the mosque’s minaret and a pool. The nearer tombs include those of Abul Hassan and his wife Shams al-Doha. Not far, the ruins of the Zaouia of Abul Hassan, which includes a minaret, and a ruined funerary chapel with very intricate carving. In general, the Zaouia is a rectangular courtyard with a small mosque at one end, and surrounded by small cells. The pool surrounded by a columned arcade with the basis still discernible.

The Roman ruins at the lower level of the Chellah enclosure have been excavated, and include a forum, baths, shops and a temple.

Kasbah des Oudaïas: dominating the Atlantic and the Bou Regreg, the Casbah des Oudaïas is a beautiful and a peaceful spot. Originally it is a fortified Ribat, settled by the Andalucians. The Casbah has many entrances, but the best one is the imposing Bab al Kasbah gateway. Yacoub al Mansour built it in about 1195, inserting it into the earlier Casbah wall built by Abd al Mumin. The gate has a pointed horseshoe arch surrounded by a cusped, blind arch, around which there is a wide band of geometric carving. The two corner areas between this band and the rectangular frame are composed of floral decoration. Above this are more palmettes, a band of Koranic lettering, and on top a wide band of geometric motifs. Inside the gate, there is the oldest mosque in Rabat dating from 1150, the time of Abd al-Mumin, the Casbah Mosque. Its well-decorated minaret was substantially rebuilt in the 18^th century. Then, the semaphore platform, an excellent view over the sea, the Oued Bou Regreg and Salé. Protected by walls, le jardin des Oudaïas is a beautiful corner. It belongs to the 20th century and were laid out be the French colonial authorities. However, the Andalucian Garden, do have a distinct non-French feeling today, especially with the dominance of Moroccans here. The garden has another attraction, which is the Museum of Moroccan arts exhibiting traditional dress and jewelers from different regions of Morocco.

Hassan Tower: this huge minaret begun in 1195 but never completed, dominates the skyline of Rabat, and overlooks the Oued Bou Regreg and Salé. The incomplete minaret stands at 45 meters. Normally it has been four times as high as it was wide, 64 meters.  It was abandoned on Yacoub al-Mansour’s death in 1199, leaving most of the minaret, but just part of the columns and walls of the mosque. All the portable materials have been taken for use in other buildings.It is decorated with geometric designs that can be seen from a distance. Each of the faces has a different composition, interweaving designs, arches and windows.

Mohammed V Mausoleum: adjacent to the Hassan Tower and dating back to 1971, stands the Mohamed V Mausoleum. Inside this Moroccan building, well decorated with a number of traditional Moroccan decorative motifs and techniques, there are the tombs of the first king of independent Morocco Mohamed V and Hassan II, father of the current king.