Morocco travel notes 2: Rabat; A Modern and Clean Capital

On Monday, January 30th, we set off for Rabat, which was made the capital of the Maghreb kingdom because it played an important role in gaining independence. I read it as ribat, which reminded me of the similarity between the name of the fortress defending the city and the name of the place, which means trade city around Khorasan. It has been a center of trade since ancient times, it is divided into two parts, the old and the new city, and the trams and public transportation are very new. 

This is the first time I have seen an Arab country with such clean roads and streets, I make an exception for Gulf countries such as Kuwait, Qatar, Oman. Congratulations, Casablanca was also clean but this is a European city, the sidewalks are shaded by the cutting and planting of benjamin trees on the roads and the trams and city buses are spotless.

 - Royal Palace

First we came to the king's palace at the entrance of the city, or rather its courtyard, which is also called daru'l-mahzen.

The religious and cultural affairs building of the Ministry of Endowments is also here. Religion is important, as I mentioned in the first article, Melik directly appoints the head of this office, everywhere religion is seen as a security issue. When I first went to Kyrgyzstan (2004), I said that if religion continues like this, it will be the subject of conflict, not reconciliation, because young people with a Gulf-Salafist mentality are on the rise. When I visited Kazakhstan in 2011, I observed that in Kazakhstan, the projections of Arab nationalism, which emerged under the name of Salafism, were on the rise. Of course, you can get close to Melik's palace up to a certain distance, there are schools inside where royals are trained, and ministries around the building. Festivals were held in the large central courtyard, and the King received the Moroccan national team here. 

- Hassan Mosque Ruins and Royal Mausoleum

We left there and came to the Hassan mosque, more precisely to the historical site with half a minaret.

The courtyard has two gates, each with two soldiers on horseback standing guard. The Muwahhid Sultan Abu Yûsuf al-Mansûr started the minaret to be the largest after the Samarra mosque, but it was left unfinished after his death, 204 of its 365 pillars remained. Death is like that, and his heirs did not continue it, but it still reminds us for centuries of his unfinished life with half a minaret.  Across the street is a mosque with the same name, it has no minaret, out of respect for the historical structure. These are Roman columns, Meryem said, and indeed they are, brought from the ancient Roman city of Volubilis. When I asked about the fate of the missing columns, the villagers might have used them for pressing olive oil. Maybe, I said to myself when I remembered the state of the ruins of historical artifacts in our country. 

The tombs of King Mohammed V and King Hassan and his brother Prince Abdullah, who made Morocco independent, were also here. There is also a mosque and a museum next to it. 

Rabat is on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, with the city of Sela right across from it, as if adjacent to it. The two are separated by a river that reaches from the middle Atlas mountain range to the ocean, giving the city a different visuality.  A river (Bouregreg) separates the two, we went there and it was a wonderful sight. There is a big opera and theater building, like a copra snake, I said tosbik but it was not accepted. There is a Russian Orthodox Church, St. Peter's Cathedral in Sale, but unfortunately we did not have the opportunity to go there. 

- Udayes Town 

And the old city, on the ocean shore, it says Kasbah, when I asked what this was, I looked in Arabic alphabet, Udayes Town, you know, town, small settlement. 

You enter through a large castle gate, built during the Muvahhidid period, probably in 1150. We are heading towards the castle overlooking the Atlantic Ocean from the street built by Muslims and Jews from Spain and still under restoration. 

It's like an outpost on the edge of a cliff, with a view of the Atlantic Ocean, the city of Sela opposite and the river that separates the two. This place was rebuilt after the earthquake and is still being rebuilt, just across the ocean from the other city. It is a Unesco World Heritage Site.  

When he pointed to a minaret in the town and told me about the way of the call to prayer, I liked it very much and I will share it with you. The four corners of the minarets were symbolic of the four corners of the world, and when the muezzin would come out and read the morning and night adhan, he would light lamps and hang flags. The sun rises past eight o'clock in the morning, evening and night prayers in winter, and in the morning and night prayers in summer. I think it is a great method for those who cannot hear the adhan and for the hearing impaired.