Almohad minaret
Sister of Koutoubia, Giralda.
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The minaret of an unfinished mosque commissioned by the Almohad caliph Yaqub al-Mansur in the late twelfth century, meant to be the largest mosque in the western Islamic world with the tallest minaret on earth. Work stopped when al-Mansur died in 1199, leaving the minaret standing at about forty-four metres. The tower is a square shaft of reddish sandstone whose four faces carry different patterns of interlacing arches and stone lattice, in the style of its Almohad sisters, the Koutoubia in Marrakech and the Giralda in Seville. Inside, a ramp takes the place of stairs, said to have been designed so a rider could climb it on horseback. In front of it spreads the mosque's broad esplanade, with rows of stone column stumps, more than three hundred of them, raised but never roofed, facing the green-roofed Mausoleum of Mohammed V. The site is part of Rabat's UNESCO World Heritage listing. Entry to the esplanade is free and the tower cannot be climbed. It is open daily in daytime, with guards in traditional dress on horseback at the entrances.
Sister of Koutoubia, Giralda.
An unfinished mosque.
In traditional dress.
Hassan esplanade, near the Bou Regreg, Rabat
Mausoleum of Mohammed VA royal mausoleum facing the Hassan Tower, holding the tomb of King Mohammed V, 3 minutes walk
Medina of RabatRabat's old walled town, bounded to the north by the Bou Regreg and the Kasbah o16 minutes walk
Museum of History and CivilizationsMorocco's national archaeological museum, founded in 1932 as the Rabat Archaeolo17 minutes walk
Kasbah of the UdayasA historic citadel on a bluff where the Bou Regreg River meets the Atlantic, fac19 minutes walk
Marinid Madrasa of SaléAn Islamic college in the old medina of Salé, on the far bank of the Bou Regreg 22 minutes walkBuilding stopped when Caliph Yaqub al-Mansur died in 1199 and was never resumed, and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake later damaged what had been built.