0218. A Truly Royal Moroccan City (Mor 066--revisit)

Meknes is one of the "Royal Cities" of Morocco, because it was the capital of Morocco during a period of its history and it definitely lives up to that title.  In fact, it might actually be the most "royal" of all the Royal Cities!  I came here to see some friends back in 97 but never really took the time to see the city, so it's going to be pretty much a fresh experience...

As soon as I got off my taxi kbir, and caught a glimpse of a huge, majestic gateway with it's decorative mosaics glistening with the reflection of the lights, I knew this was going to be a very special experience...  I entered the gateway towards what seemed to be the old city only to come to another enormous wall zigzagging its way up a slope... I soon figured out that I was in a city within a city--and beyond was a city within a city within a city with layer after layer of walls, palaces, large courtyards, cramped old medinas and many more glorious gateways just like the one I had already seen.

  Meknes is truly a unique and magnificent experience.  In fact, I might add it to my list of "most underappreciated Moroccan cities"--simply because it doesn't get the same international attention as say, Fes or Marrakesh... but on the flip side, with a relative shortage of tourists, there are almost no street hustlers... so you can explore the sprawling castles undisturbed--except for an occasional helpful citizen who will point out to you that you're heading towards a dead end...

I soon found a cheap little hotel--where I ended up staying for 3 nights.  I just couldn't leave this city until I felt I had fully explored it. 

Meknes is basically divided into three sections.  the middle section is the "Old City" which is itself divided into several sections.

  To the west you have an old medina with a bustling marketplace, some very regal looking buildings with fancy latticework and then some pretty gritty areas... Then there's an large open plaza in the middle with a mini "Jamaa Fna"--but with no snake charmers or dancing monkeys and a rather limited food selection... The there's the famous "Bab Mansour" the grandest gateways of them all which leads to another courtyard (all these courtyards give Meknes an unusually spacious feel--sometimes it's hard to tell if you're inside the walls or outside the walls)... then there's another walled-in section--very quiet since all the alleys are dead ends... with walkways underneath these massive walls...

...Then around this section you pass the royal palace and another gateway to another section which is simply magnificent.

  I almost didn't notice this tunnel over to one side--this tunnel that winds around INSIDE the massive walls and then leads to another fort-like section of the city.  The tunnels have a very Roman-like feel with their arc ceilings... Clearly folks felt very secure within these massive walls... A lot of dead ends in this fort as well--but I didn't mind one bit--every single alleyway had some unexpected surprise to it.

... Once outside the fort... past a couple of regal government buildings--I headed out to explore the poorer and livlier eastern sub-section--also surrounded by a outer wall...

The Southern section of town stretches on for miles--and much of it is also surounded by another wall--not quite as well maintained as the inner walls, but impressive nonetheless.

A hilight of this section--which I happened on quite by accident is the enormous Mansour Palace--which is in the process of being repaired... I don't generally go for guided tours, but there didn't seem to be any other way I could get into this place--so I let the watchman show me around the vast storerooms, courts and courtyards--still giving you a sense of what a majestic place this once was...

...After another hike around the Old Medina, a short parkbenching session (due to the rain) and another short hike up north I decided to call it a day...

Sept. 27  I got back from my trip to Moulay Driss and Volubilis at about 4:30 only to be hit by a monsoon like storm.  Thousands of Meknesians were faced with the dilemma of either getting home late for their Ramadan ftor or getting soaked--many chose the latter.

  I stood with a crowd of cowards under shelter cheering anyone who dared cross the street a.k.a. river... Who says it never rains in Morocco?

Finally the rained stopped and I headed up to thoroughly the modern, north section of the city.  It's separated from rest of the city by a lush green valley which includes a small zoo... On the other side is a very modern shopping district with a few mid-rises... then an area of apartment complexes going up and fancy villas to the east... to the north, another lively residential area with a large, very muddy street market... 

...Loved this city... I could keep exploring more--but I think it's time to move on...