April 17 – 18

Leaving Chellah in another Tuk Tuk for the same fee as before, we rode the mile and a half to an esplanade that contains both the Mausoleum of Mohammed V and the Hassan Tower.  The Mausoleum contains the tombs of the Moroccan king Mohammed V and his two sons, King Hassan II and Prince Abdallah.  Mohammed V died in 1961, and the complex was designed by Vietnamese architect Cong Vo Toan using traditional forms with modern materials, and the deliberate use of historical crafts and motifs.

It is meant to not only pay tribute to Mohammed V but also to evoke his own efforts to encourage traditional craftsmanship to promote a sense of Moroccan identity.  Construction began in 1961 and involved renovations to the esplanade of the ruined Almohad-era Mosque to which the Hassan Tower belonged.  Construction was completed in 1971, and Mohammed V’s body was transferred here that same year.  His son Abdallah was buried here in 1983, and Hassan II was also buried here upon his death in 1999.

We weren’t all that interested in going inside the Mausoleum and so just spent some time at the edge of the esplanade, viewing folks streaming in for the call to prayer, as they threaded their way through the remaining columns of the incomplete mosque that was commissioned near the end of the 12^th century.  At the other edge of the esplanade is the Hassan Tower, commissioned by Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, the third caliph of the Almohad Caliphate, at the same time as the mosque.  

The tower was intended to be the largest minaret in the world, and the mosque, if completed, would have been the largest in the western Muslim world.  When al-Mansur died in 1199, construction on the mosque stopped.  The minaret was left standing at a height of 144 feet and the rest of the mosque was also left incomplete, with only the beginnings of several walls and 348 columns being constructed. 

By this time, we were feeling a bit peckish and so walked a few blocks from the esplanade in search of a snack, landing at a corner café.  We sat outside and ordered a coffee (nous nous or with milk) apiece from the waiter and I went inside to the bakery side of the shop to fetch us a nice piece of apple cake.  It was the perfect way to relax a bit before walking the rest of the afternoon and a treat as our tab came to just 44 Dirham ($5).

We made our way down the wide and busy street that would lead us to the harbor, turning left at a roundabout beside the Borj Sidi Makhlouf, a fort that was first established in the 17th century and was destroyed in 1637 but conserved as it is today.  It is located atop the cliff overlooking yhe Bouregreg river and it marked the transition from Andalusian to military architecture.  It was then that I realized that I had left my long sleeve Patagonia Capilene shirt with the Dogfish Brewing artwork on it, one of many such shirts I own from the brewery.  One of the only long-sleeved shirts I’d brought on the trip, Joanna volunteered to go back to the café and retrieve it, which she was able to successfully manage. 

We continued walking down to the harbor to check out Le Dhow, a restaurant we were thinking of patronizing later as it appeared that they served alcohol.  As we continued down the boardwalk we marveled at the many pedal cars for rent, all of them outfitted as characters from fairytales and movies.  We opted not to rent one but continued, passing the restaurant and climbing a small hill next to the Andalusian Gardens before crossing the street and heading into the Medina. 

Our quest for the rest of the excursion was to find earrings to gift to our neighbor Marilyn for keeping an eye out at the house while we were gone.  We located a pair featuring the Eye of Fatima, the Hamsa hand, a palm-shaped amulet popular in the Middle East and North Africa, believed to offer protection against the evil eye and bring good fortune, that I mentioned in an earlier post.  We then wandered a bit, getting lost of course, before enjoying another later afternoon snack before returning to the Riad. 

After our long day of exploring, we didn’t have the energy to walk back through the Medina to Le Dhow and so decided to have dinner that night at the Riad.  It was served on the roof just like at breakfast and we started with a meat filled puff pastry and Moroccan soup before we split the beef Tagine with Prunes.  It was all good, filling and reasonably priced, although I have it listed as 40 Dirhams which doesn’t seem correct.  All things being equal though, it was a nice way to end our two nights in Rabat, and it made us eager to get on the road the next day to Tangier, our last stop in Morocco. 

Links

Mausoleum of Mohammed V: https://www.visitrabat.com/en/lieux/le-mausolee-mohammed-v/

Hassan Tower: https://www.visitrabat.com/en/lieux/la-tour-hassan-2/

Le Dhow: https://ledhow.com/