Bab Sidi Abdelwahab
The famous gate.
Iznassen — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Madev001 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ghizlane BOUMACHMACHA — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Iznassen — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Farajiibrahim — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Farajiibrahim — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Iznassen — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Iznassen — CC BY-SA 3.0
The old town of Oujda, capital of eastern Morocco near the Algerian border, is ringed by crenellated walls that separate it from the modern city and entered through historic gates, the most famous being Bab Sidi Abdelwahab. It was founded in 994 by Ziri ibn Atiyya, chief of the Zenata Maghrawa, and changed hands many times over the centuries because of its position on the frontier road between Fes and Tlemcen. At its heart stands the Great Mosque, founded by the Marinid sultan Abu Ya'qub Yusuf in 1296 when he rebuilt the town and its walls, with a decorated minaret about twenty-four metres tall, probably completed in 1317; the mosque is open to Muslims only. Nearby are a madrasa and a bathhouse from the Marinid era. The best-known gate, Bab Sidi Abdelwahab, has a pointed arch between two towers; the authorities once hung the heads of rebels above it, earning it the name «gate of heads». The present walls and gates, including Bab el-Gharbi, date from the late nineteenth century. Inside are lanes and markets for spices, clothes and sweets, a fountain clad in zellij tilework, and buildings from the French protectorate with iron balconies. Wandering is free. Mornings and evenings are the best times, when the markets are busy, while summer middays are very hot. The Sidi Yahya oasis is close to the city, and Saïdia beach is about sixty kilometres away.
The famous gate.
A Marinid minaret.
Spices and sweets.
Central Oujda, at Bab Sidi Abdelwahab
No; like most mosques in Morocco it is open to Muslims only, but its minaret and doors can be seen from the surrounding lanes.