Kasbah of the Udayas

About this place

A historic citadel on a bluff where the Bou Regreg River meets the Atlantic, facing the city of Salé, whose origins go back to a tenth-century fortified ribat; the Almohads built its walls in the twelfth century. It takes its name from the Udaya tribe, part of which settled here in the nineteenth century, and it is part of Rabat's World Heritage listing. You enter through the Almohad Bab Oudaia, one of the finest gates in Morocco with its carved stone decoration, then walk narrow lanes between houses painted white and blue, with coloured doors and potted plants, in a calm atmosphere like a seaside village. At the top of the kasbah is the cannon platform overlooking the ocean, the river mouth and Salé, and below lies the Andalusian garden of orange trees, palms and roses, with the traditional Moorish café overlooking the river, serving mint tea and pastries. A seventeenth-century palace inside houses the National Museum of Adornment. Wandering the kasbah and the garden is free; the museum costs a foreign visitor sixty dirhams according to the National Museums Foundation, open from ten to six and closed on Tuesdays. Unofficial guides may offer to accompany you at the entrance; you do not need one.