SHORT HISTORY OF MEKNES

The Kings city of Meknes lies in an agricultural area that has been actsing as grainary of Morocco for centuries. The grandeur of the Moorish architecture shows its former importance.

Meknes used to be a small town untill the 17th century. It was Moulay Ismaïl who build it into a King city. This sultan has build the city walls, with all the gates, mosques and palaces. To finish hids life’s work, the ruins of Volubilis and the Palais el-Badi were plundered.

Nowadays Meknes is one of the five biggest cities of Morocco, with 450.000 residents. The city is divided in three main quarters: The Medina, the Kings city and the Ville Nouvelle. The medina is the most densely built-up, the KIngs city has the most impressive architecture realsied under Moulay Ismaïl and the Ville Nouvelle extends on the left bank of the river Wadi Boufekrane.

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