There was no good estimate of the number of children the
Sultan Moulay Ismail had, but it is clear that he owned a lot of property. He made Meknes his capital and built a
fortress city in the 17th Century that remains impressive today.
Our drive from Rabat to Meknes took us away from the coast
through beautiful farmland. The road was
well developed and maintained, and the farms were small family operations. As we passed through them, everywhere, we saw
men working, a site that would not be as common later in the trip.
It was a brilliant day that made the green grasses glow and
the pink houses seemed warm and welcoming.
Meknes was also a glowing city that day.
The gate of El Mansour, Bab el Mansour, is a beautiful and intricate,
but no longer an entrance.
We went to the entrance of Sultan Moulay’s city and toured
the vast compound he had built. It was
of a magnitude that astonished, but then he was a man of great appetites. It took a lot of stores to support a family the
size of his, and 12,000 horses take up a lot of room, then of course you have
to keep your prisoners somewhere. The granary
was cool and dry, but the stables were what drew me. Their size and symmetry was beautiful, almost
joyous in the bright afternoon sun. Of course, the prison where the European
slaves (who built the complex) was not as cheerful.
We went next to the mausoleum of Moulay Ismail. Although he was a brutal leader who enslaved
many and killed thousands of his own subjects, he is revered and his mausoleum is
a shrine. The tile work was beautiful
and it is a serene place. We took off
our shoes to enter the mosque joined a collection of tourists and people
seeking baraka (blessings) by touching spots designated as holy. The tile work glowed when it was caught in
the sunlight.
Heading to lunch we saw a man flogging wool to prepare it
for spinning. Then we had a nice tagine
of chicken for lunch.
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