Idea #444 – Discovering the Chellah, the Hassan Tower, and Mohammed V’s grave
Le Chellah (in arabic : شالة ) ithe site of a mérinide necropolis, situated on the location of an antique city, near thecity of Rabat in Morocco, in approximately 200 m of the rampart almohade of the medieval old town. The Phoenician and Carthaginian, who founded several counters in Morocco, probably lived in the edges of Bouregreg, making of the site of Chellah the oldest human agglomeration for the mouth of the river.
Chellah also keeps the vestiges of the Roman city known under the name of Salted or Sala Colonia, whose influence exceeded widely the limits of the current fortified wall. The excavations revealed the presence of an urban area of a certain importance: the rests of the Decumanus Maximus (the main road) were identified as well as those of a forum, a monumental fountain, a triumphal arch, and a Christian basilica and a temple.
At the beginning of the Middle Ages, the city was under the control Idrissides, then was taken by Foamed ibn abi Affia in 929. In 993, it passed in Maghraouides. At the beginning of the XIth century, Chellah became the Ifrenides’ capital. In 1154, the site was abandoned, and the Mérinides established their dynastic necropolis there. As indicates it the inscription in coufique writing, which surmounts the front door, the works were finished in 1339, under the reign of Abû al-Hasan `Alî. The activity of the site was progressive, and the successive developpments ended in the realization of a luxurious necropolis.
Protected by an important wall, that we reach by three doors (the Door of Sidi Yahia, the Door of Gardens and the Door of the Spring of the Paradise), the mérinide necropolis contains in particular a room of ablutions, a zaouïa with an oratory, a ready minaret of zellige and several funeral places.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Le Chellah, Rabat, Maroc
