FROM CAPITAL TO CAPITAL

Fez, Marrakech, Meknes, Rabat, four imperial capital cities for one Kingdom!

 

Who can say better?

I was so surprised, one day, to hear a somewhat acrid dialogue between two Moroccans, one from Fez, the other one from Marrakech, about their country’s history !

But just like best enemies !

The very friendly tone they had at the beginning, each giving news of their city, business, tourism and weather, changed to become quite heated as soon as a thorny question was addressed :

Which of the two cities had been more ‘capital’ of the Kingdom than the other ?

 

                                                                                                                     

 

 

The Marrakchi said that his city had been a capital city more times and besides, did the country Morocco really exist before the founding of the ochre city?

The Fassi answered that this was false and that Fez, in any case, had been so for a longer period and that it was the first True capital of the kingdom.

 

 

Everyone went about counting the years, the centuries, the months, and naming the reigning dynasties that had written the chapters of history and often changed the capitals.

If the whole thing was a bit confused, the passion that each interlocutor put in the debate left me speechless.

The Fassi, in a crushing tone, asserted that Fez had such cultural, academic, and religious superiority that one could not even imagine discussing it.

 

 

 

The Marrakchi, being upset but ironic, blew him off while retorting that his contempt and vanity were only matched by his jealousy towards history and the irresistible charm of the people of Marrakech!

 

 

 

Dismayed, Mister from Fez smiled and the duel ended in a brotherly hug !

The argument was very interesting and revealing.

Two educated persons had disputed a historical point that I didn’t imagine being so sensitive nowadays.

Of course, there was a part of chauvinism, but also the question of a legendary rivalry between these two iconic cities of the Kingdom.

 

 

 

But the starting point of the argument had indeed been this  question about capital cities !

The debate was therefore not closed.

A complicated story

Let’s just try to work out the clues of a story with twists and turns !

These are the different successive dynasties that founded their capitals to establish their prestige and power. The traces of their reigns are engraved in the stone.

 

 

 

 

The Idrissides, Almoravids, Almohads, Merinids, Saadians and Alaouites have marked with their seals Fez, Marrakech, Meknes and Rabat, from the western Atlantic to the southern Sahara.

The cities that have become royal or imperial are growing, adorned with monuments of exceptional architecture and become the center of this world animated by the sovereign.

 

 

 

It is the expression of its culture, its grandeur, its refinement and the place of its myths and legends.

The four Moroccan imperial cities have a lot in common if we consider the urban plan and architecture.

They are surrounded by ramparts, flanked by towers and doors that can be closed at night.

 

 

 

 

 

Inside this belt, the medina, a labyrinth of alleys, illuminated by some wide lanes that connect the different doors. The activity is overwhelming and organized by neighborhoods.

Traffic is heavy in the middle of these arteries until the more remote dead-ends.

A large mosque marks the center, and the souks, in addition to their economic purpose, are a meeting point, a nerve center.

 

 

The citadel of the Prince, the kasbah, is exterior or nearby.

 

 

 

Fez is undoubtedly the first capital of a kingdom in full construction, with still uncertain contours. The city was founded by Idriss I in the eighth century and then established by his son Idriss II. At the dawn of Arab-Islamic civilization, it quickly developed around the university mosque “Quaraouiyine” and became a spiritual and cultural center of prime importance.

 

 

 

 

Moreover, Fez takes advantage of its location at the crossroads of trade routes. Its population accelerates with the families expelled from Cordoba or Kairouan.

 

 

The city loses its status as a capital with the foundation of Morocco and Marrakech by the Almoravids in 1072 but retrieves it in 1250, with the Merinides.

 

 

 

 

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries saw a restless Morocco, prey to unrest and disorder and, with the decline of the Merinide dynasty then the Spanish, Portuguese and English occupations, the country finds itself divided into several territories.

In the 16th century (1511), the Saadiens take over, reunify and choose Marrakech as their capital (after Taroudant!) which regains its brilliance of the Almohad period (12th century).

 

 

At the end of the 17th century, Meknes entered the ballet of capitals for the 55 years of the reign of Moulay Ismail (1672-1727).

 

 

 

As a King builder, he creates the city in his image, a «Moroccan Versailles» illustrating  the precept «to Great King, Great City».

 

 

The enslaved prisoners in his jails will also give a hand to  the construction of the city.

 

 

 

Then Fez will take back its crown until the beginning of the French Protectorate in 1912. Finally, under the impetus of Marshal Lyautey, Resident General of Morocco, the quiet city of Rabat will finally be consecrated capital until today!

 

 

The city, on the banks of the Bouregreb river, is naturally the seat of all the embassies of the world in its modern districts. It is historically rich and offers beautiful monuments and several magnificent sites.

 

 

In addition, it is today,  with all its modernity, a major symbol in the urban landscape of the Kingdom. The Mohamed VI Tower, the new theater are its most recent landmarks.

 

 

Through quarrels, splits, conquests and other colonizations, some other cities like Taroudant, Salé, Tétouan or Tangier have played major roles and could appear in the charts but let’s not complicate the matter!

Between Fez and Marrakech, let’s decide that there is a draw!

Abundance of goods is not harmful ! A country that can pride itself on already having four imperial capital cities, it is not so frequent! In the land of the setting sun, this star is not stingy and continues to shine above the capitals, on the stones and dunes of the desert areas!