If your first stop in Morocco is Casablanca then let your second stop be just 60 miles up the coast in Rabat. It is the country’s capital and where most of the foreign embassies are located as well as the country’s head of state, King Mohammed VI. The most talked about and well-visited site in Rabat is the Tour Hassan, built of rosy copper sandstone with a minaret that soars 144 feet above an array of 300 columns of a mosque that was never actually completed. Morocco’s cities are filled to the brim with such boiling brews
Eight centuries separate another well-known mosque housing the Mausoleum of Mohammed V who was the hero of the transition to independence. As well, don’t miss the Museum of Moroccan Arts, which can be found in a 17th century palace and houses a famous collection of Berber jewelry, musical instruments and manuscripts
A once Roman city, the Kasbah Chellah (Chellah Gardens) is a site worth investigation as the area is littered with Roman ruins and saints’ tombs that are topped off with stork’s nests. Next to one of the tombs is a stone pool in which there are eels used for a magical rite from tales of old. Women from the area feed the eels hard-boiled eggs in hopes that the rite will bring them a child. On Friday, a visit to the area will offer witness to the brightly dressed women there for the Islamic Sabbath.
After a day or two in Rabat keep moving east to Meknes, once the capital of Morocco during the reign of Alaouite sultan Moulay Ismali from 1672 to 1727. There are 25 miles of massive fortifications surrounding the city and in order to enter, visitors must go through ornate gateways, the highlight being Bab el-Mansour. Once inside there are palatial palaces, ornate gardens, reservoirs and the ancient, but still elegant Royal Graneries. As well take a look at the Moulay Ismael Mausoleum, which is one of the four sacred sites open to Non-Muslims.
Once in the old city there are souks full of spices, carpets, leather and damascene or silver inlay work – this is what the city is actually most famous for too. The Museum of Moroccan Art housed in the former Dar Jamai Palace is also on the list of things to do in Meknes.
Even after all these sites, there is still one that serves to entice the visitor even more, the UNESCO Heritage Site of the monumental arches and temples of Volubilis. Only 19 miles to the north of the city and once the Roman capital of Mauritania ruins include the House of Orpheus and other villas with beautiful mosaic floors, the Forum with the Capitol and Basilica and the Triumphal Arch marking the western end of the city’s main street. There’s so much to see and do in Morocco that one Morocco tour may not be enough to cover it all.
Just two miles from Volubilis is the holy town of Moulay Idriss, tumbling down the slopes of two hills. On the main square in that town is the tomb of Moulay Idriss I, the eighth century founder of Morocco’s first Arab dynasty. Every September thousands of pilgrims come to pay homage to him at the shrine – a holy festival called moussem – all in honor of Morocco’s first sultan.
Another city you must visit includes the imperial city of Fes. It is the oldest of the imperial cities and Morocco’s intellectual, religious and artistic capital. There are many fascinating things to see and do in Fes including peeking through the carved entrance doors of the ninth century Kairaouine Mosque, a virtual masterpiece of Andalusian architecture. There are also views from the Merenid Tombs above the city or stand amazed at the Royal Palace with its dramatic golden doors in the Fes el Jedid (New Fes). Of course too, there is the medieval Medina, the country’s largest open-air market.
The city’s heart lies, however, in Fes el Bali, the quintessential Medina and yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site. When you go to this Medina it is advised to go with a guide so as not to get lost in the labyrinth of pedestrian passageways–over 90,000 in all! Another piece of advice, give way to the donkeys and drivers calling out “balek,” they have the right of way and are the taxis of the Medina. While it is big, there is an order to the madness. For example, the tanners are located in a section as are the metal workers in the sunny square, the spice sellers, the rug merchants and the dyers, it’s all easy to find if you know where you are looking. And that is exaclty what a Morocco family tour will do for you–keep you looking and learning.
By Rita Cook
