Villes impériales

Scheme of a Ville Imperiale, Meknès

When people visit Morocco, they typically visit the four villes impériales: Fès, Meknès, Marrakech and Rabat. These four have been capital cities throughout time for different dynasties of rulers: Idrisids (Fès), Almoravids (Marrakech), Almohads (Marrakech), Marinids (Fès), Saadis (Marrakech, Fès) and Alaouites (Fès, Meknès, Rabat). They shaped their favorite cities, contributed new buildings to them and left their traces.

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Riad Zyo

Riad Zyo, Rabat

Once you reach the medina of Rabat you’ll see that it is entirely surrounded by an ancient city wall. The streets within are mostly traffic-free (with the exception of the Avenue Laalou passing between medina and necropolis), which gives you a nice experience while walking through the old town but also challenges you with the question of how to reach your guesthouse. The Riad Zyo is pretty easy to recht: after passing the Bab Laalou you only need to walk some meters on the Avenue Mohammad V and then turn right into the Rue Moreno. A small plaque at the wall will signal you that you’ve reached your destination.

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Underground graveyard

St Paul's catacombs, Rabat

Burial traditions change over time and are different in every culture. If you’re visiting the city of Rabat, you can explore a vast former burial site with an endless number of graves: the St. Paul’s Catacombs. More than 20 catacombs from Punic, Phoenician and Roman times as well as Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Pagan underground graveyards can be visited. The site is named after St. Paul because of the catholic church close to it.

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