Morocco again22 Meknes Imperial city
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2222
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Sculpture of a traditional water carrier
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Al Maghrib, the Arabic name for Morocco, means "far west" or "where the sun sets." When the Arabs first arrived in northern Africa in the 7th century, Morocco was believed to be the westernmost point in the world. The ancient imperial city of Meknes is in Northern Morocco and is one of its most historic, traditional and colourful cities, steeped in folklore, culture and history. Originally known as “Meknassa al-Zitoun” (“Meknes of the olives”), Meknes was founded in the 10th Century by members of the Berber “Meknassa” tribe, but became famous when it was chosen by the Emperor Moulay Ismail to be his Imperial capital in 1672. He made it his life’s mission to transform Meknes into the “Versailles of Morocco”. He is compared to his contemporary, Louis XIV of France, due to his reputation as a warrior king and his love of grandeur in general
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Cemetery
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City gate in Meknes - Bab Berdaine built by Moulay Ismaïl in the 17th century
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Koubba el Khayatine is where Ismail used to receive foreign ambassadors. A stairway beneath the pavilion leads to vaults which are said to have served as a prison for the European slaves who laboured on the construction of the imperial city. It is claimed that the underground chambers ran for over 7km (4 miles) and that up to 40,000 slaves were incarcerated here each night in total darkness (the tiny windows were made by the French).
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Both as a governor and a Sultan Moulay Ismail was a man of excesses. A ruthless tyrant, he had a harem of 500 wives and concubines and fathered hundreds of children. He was also a great admirer of France’s Louis XIV, and set about building an imperial city to rival the Palace of Versailles. Christian slaves and local tribesmen laboured for years to realise Ismail’s grandiose plan, which comprised a complex of 24 royal palaces with mosques, barracks and ornamental gardens, surrounded by four sets of massive defensive walls.
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Sultan Moulay Ismaïl received here the ambassadors from other countries, often to plead for the return of their countrymen. Little did they know - their countrymen laid shackled just below them. Just to the right of the pavilion are the stairs down to the prison where up to 60,000 prisoners were held.
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Kara Underground prison where slaves were kept during the 17th century. Majority of them were captured Christians.Built as a prison by the Portuguese architect Cara, himself a prisoner, who earned his freedom by constructing these immense subterranean slave quarters. 60,000 slaves (of which 40,000 were reportedly Christian prisoners of war) were shackled to the wall, forced to sleep standing up, and ordered to work on the sultan's laborious building projects
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Prisons’ ventilation
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On the surface you
can see the
ventilation shafts for
the prison below
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Gate of Royal Palace, one of most striking of Meknes' many gates (27 gates)
Bab Mansour
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Another great construction of Moulay Ismail in Meknes is Hri Souani.It is a complex of three different buildings just to the south of the royal palace. The main structure is the actual granaries which were built to store massive quantities food and water in case Meknes had been under siege
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This amazing site has been used as a scene for many
films, the most famous of which is probably The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988
by Martin Scorsese
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There are a series of 10
massive rooms with arched
ceilings that can reach dimensions of over 25 meters long by 10 meters
wide
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The walls were so thick that the
food was naturally
preserved from the highly variable
temperatures of the Meknes
region
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Another part of the building
contains the wells that give the name of "the
house of water" (Dar El Ma).
These wells were powered by
animals to extract water which was
stored in the "bassin d'Agdal"
(Sarij Swani)
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This series of buildings provided ample stocks for the emperor to feel safe in Meknes. The Royal Granaries were designed to store grain as feed for the
10,000 horses in the royal stables
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Agdal reservoir, built by Moulay Ismail measures 319 x 149 meters, with a depth of 2 m
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The Granaries have recently been restored and are now once again entirely open to the public
Jacaranda tree with seed pods
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Agdal reservoir
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Fed by a complex system of irrigation channels 25km long, it served as both a reservoir for the sultan’s gardens and a pleasure lake
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Vandalism
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The giant Giacometti-like statue of a traditional water seller lost the hat, the water and the cup…. and now seems a beggar
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The remains of Moulay Ismail’s stables are attached to the granary. The Royal Stables in Meknes was constructed to comfortably house no less that twelve thousand of the royal horses. Ismail had a great respect and admiration for these gracious animals, even more than he did for his human counterparts.
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His horses were waited on hand and foot, with a groom and a slave for each horse, to ensure that all their needs were met, stables kept in immaculate condition and his horses being taken care of
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It is even said that after a horse had completed a
journey to Mecca, slaves were
forced to catch the urine in a
bowl, as even the earth was too
undeserving for the horse to
urinate on. It is easy to say that
Moulay Ismail was fanatical
about his horses
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Today, most of the stables are in ruin and due to an earthquake during the eighteenth century, the roof of the stables no longer provides protection. Even though it is not in the pristine condition that Ismail would have approved of, visitors will still be amazed at its sheer size and the effort that was put into the construction
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There is a canal that ran fresh water through the stables constantly, so the horses never lacked clean water
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To feed twelve thousand horses is already a great feat, but the granaries stored enough grain to feed the horses for twenty years! To store such large amounts of grain, the granaries needed to be kept cold, and for this, the granaries were constructed with thick walls and a suspended forest was grown on the roof. Water from the reservoir below, was forced through ducts in the floor, to maintain a low temperature and keep the grain from rotting
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Meknes is twinned with Nîmes, France, since 2005
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Sound: Hamid Zahir 2016
Text: InternetPictures: Sanda Negruțiu Sanda Foişoreanu Internet slide2,3, 38Copyright: All the images belong to their authors
Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanuhttps://plus.google.com/+SandaMichaela