Background
Coming up to Meknès by road from Rabat, you get a good idea of why Moulay Ismaïl chose the town as his capital. The N6 passes through the Mamora Forest and a belt of fertile, relatively prosperous countryside. Meknès was originally a kasbah from the eighth century, used by the Kharajite Berbers against the Arabs. The town itself was founded by the Zenata Amazigh tribe called Meknassa in the 10th century and then destroyed by the Almoravids in 1069. A later kasbah was destroyed by the Almohad Sultan Abd el Moumen in order to build a new grid-patterned médina, some features of which still remain. This city was ruined during the conflict between the Almohads and the Merinids, but was partially rebuilt and repopulated in 1276 under Sultan Moulay Youssef. A fine medersa was built under the Merinids as they sought to expand Sunni orthodoxy to reduce the influence of Soufi leaders.
The reign of Moulay Ismaïl
The reign of the Alaouite sultan, Moulay Ismaïl (1672-1727), saw Meknès raised to the status of imperial capital. Even before his succession to the imperial throne, Moulay Ismaïl developed the city. Meknès was chosen as his capital rather than the rebellious and self-important rivals of Fès and Marrakech. Moulay Ismaïl is renowned for his ruthless violence, but many of the stories recounted by the guides may be apocryphal. What is certain is that he made an impression on European visitors to the court. Meknès was described as a Moroccan Versailles. Indeed, some suggest that the sultan was trying to rival Louis XIV, then involved in building his palace complex outside Paris. Having conquered Morocco, Moulay Ismaïl left his mark all over the country. Kasbahs were built by his troops as they pacified the tribes, cities acquired mosques and public buildings.
Moulay Ismaïl’s vision of Meknès was vast, and although much of the pisé and rubble walls are in ruins, those still standing are testimony to its original scale. The city was built by a massive army of slaves, both Muslim and Christian, and the sultan was in particular famed for his barbaric treatment of these people, supposedly having them buried in the walls. He built several palaces to accommodate his wives, concubines, children and court, as well as quarters for his army the Abid Bukhari, an élite praetorian guard of black slaves, the chief instrument of his power. The city contained within it all that was necessary for such a large military machine, with store houses, stables, armouries, gardens and reservoirs.
After Moulay Ismaïl
After Moulay Ismaïl’s death, Meknès gradually declined. His huge court and army could not be held together without his immense ego, and his successors Moulay Abdallah and Sidi Mohammed returned the emphasis to Fès and Marrakech. Furthermore, the earthquake of 1755 destroyed many of Moulay Ismaïl’s creations. The French revitalized Meknès, appreciating its strategic position in the corridor linking eastern Morocco and Algeria with the coastal belt around Rabat and Casablanca. They built their ville nouvelle apart from the médina and the imperial city, on the east bank of the Oued Boufekrane, as part of their policy of separate development of Moroccan and European quarters. During the Protectorate, Meknès became the most important garrison town in Morocco, and continued as an important military town after independence.
Meknès today
Although Meknès is perhaps overshadowed by its near neighbour Fès, it is today the fifth largest city in Morocco with both tourism and industrial activities, and is the centre of a highly productive agricultural region. After a period of relative stagnation, Meknès is re-emerging as an important town. National planners made the city capital of the Meknès-Tafilalelt region which extends southeast to Er Rachidia, Erfoud and Rissani down one of the country’s most strategic lines of communication. The late 1990s saw a spate of new building, not all of it in keeping with the city’s character. Along with assorted concrete blocks, a McDonald‘s has gone up on the corridor of parkland designed as a green lung for the heart of the city. And, horror of horrors, some philistine has put up a low-rise housing block in the heart of the médina, higher than some of the minarets.
Lovers of Moroccan red wines will find place names in the region south of Meknès familiar. The country’s best vineyards are located here, near settlements like Aït Souala, Aït Yazm and Agouraï. Quality is improving with foreign investors putting money into improved vinification methods.
more Meknes photos
