#847 Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco

The first modern mosque I ever visited in the world was this impressive one, with the waves of the Atlantic Ocean lapping underneath, in Casablanca, Morocco. It was my first real exposure to the modern interpretations of Islamic Architecture, which would become a passion, and a wonderful experience of the tranquility and peace inside mosques.

With doors large enough for the king to ride his horse through, the mosque is not intended to replicate older mosques that Morocco is also famous for, such as Le Tour Hassan in Rabat (#864), or the Kotoubia Mosque in Marrakech (#988), but to show Morocco's modern strength and piety, although many Moroccans do not consider the Hassan II mosque as sacred because infidels are allowed inside.

Next to the old medina in a spectacular location, it was at one time the world's 3rd largest religious monument with the world's highest minaret (210m). Finished in 1993 for the late king's 60th birthday, it required 10,000 craftsmen 5 years to finish. It was designed by a French architect, Michel Pinseau, and had the latest technology such as headed floors, electric doors and a sliding roof, although its traditional zellij mosaic tiles were painstakingly put in place one by one, an exemplar of Morocco's strong traditional artistry. Its cedar interior comes from the Middle Atlas mountains, its marble from Agadir, and its granite from Tafraoute, showcasing a strong Moroccan pride.

Source: Lonely Planet Morocco 6th Edition

#860 Mzora Stone Circle, Morocco

Big stellae

Stones lying in the grass

When I was a student in Morocco, one of the things I wanted to see the most was the "Cromlech de Mzora", an ancient stone circle that was barely mentioned in the guidebooks, and unheard of by most Moroccans, so I undertook to do a research paper about it for my class there. The only information I found was in French texts (the names of which I also no longer have), and by renting a car to search it out in its tiny village. Unfortunately, the paper has been lost to the relics of no-internet backups, but I still have the photos I took, and the story of how it was to get there. I apologize to the people that quoted it in their academic papers and thank them enormously for the honor they did to quote me at all -- I will try and locate the paper one day and re-type it!

Whole mound and circle

Biggest standing stone - El Uted "The Pointer"

Bricks under the mound

About half way between the small towns of Larache and Asilah, north of the Roman center called Lixus, the Arab village of Souq Tnine de Sidi el-Yamani is the closest place to the ruins. There are modern buildings and homes scattered right next to the ruins, and the stones themselves are in a bad state of disrepair. A small pond has formed inside the mound that was excavated by French scholars.

Edge of circle

Bilingual Stellae - image from a French text --
this is in a Museum and no longer at the site.

View from the top

Stones outside of circle

Side view of circle

Hunks out of stone - from afar

While scattered, fallen and moved, the presence of 167 intact stones from the circle makes this impressive, as does the fact that you are free to wander freely among them. The state that the French Archaeologists left the site in is quite appalling, but its obscurity in Moroccan history books means that most Moroccans are uninterested in visiting it, so it does not see the same number of visitors that such a site would see in Europe, especially considering its size, and thus it is more preserved than it could be.

Entranceway

Hunks out of stone - closeup view

Copied diagram of Mzora from French text -- cited

French text - inside tomb

These two aerial photos were matched on the following google earth blog: http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2011/01/hunting_for_the_megalithic_stone_ci.html 

One French text I looked at shared this photo, but the surrounding area does not fit reality. The other photo below is more likely, however.

French textbook aerial photo

Tombs south of Morocco

North African monolithic sites

Source: Lonely Planet Morocco, 6th Edition

Here's what the Lonely Planet says, and this was basically all I had to go on when I started my search:

   "The ancient and little-understood Monoliths de M'Soura stand on a desolate patch of ground some 25km (by road) southeast of Asilah. The stones, arranged in a circle, range from 50cm to 6m in height and some historians believe the surround the tomb of a noble, perhaps dating back to Punic times. To get to the site  you must first reach the village of Souq Tnine de Sidi el-Yamani, off highway P37, which branches east off the main Tangier to Rabat road. From here, 6km of bad piste (unsealed track) leads north to the site. You need a good vehicle, and a local guide would help."

http://www.journeybeyondtravel.com/news/morocco-travel/monoliths-of-msoura-morocco-travel.html

http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2011/01/hunting_for_the_megalithic_stone_ci.html

#864 Le Tour Hassan and Mausoleum of Mohamed V, Rabat, Morocco

Before I ever saw it, the posters of Yacub Al Mansour's 1195 C.E. mosque in Morocco's capital Rabat intrigued me: 200 pillars of dusty sandstone cast shadows of precision (a testament to early Islamic mathematicians and architects) in the ruined mosque which is overshadowed by Le Tour Hassan (Hassan Tower). Hassan Tower (44m) was intended to be the largest minaret in the world when it was built -- 80m, but it was never finished, and the adjacent mosque, also never completely finished, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1755. Similar to the Giralda in Seville, which was designed by the same architect Jabir, the inside of the minaret is ascended by ramps instead of stairs, allowing the king to ride his horse up. Al Mansour also built (and Jabir also designed) the Koutobia mosque in Marrakech (#988), which is a similar style, but Rabat's mosque's construction stalled after the king's death. 

Overlooking the Oud Bou Regreg (river/inlet) and the twin city of Salé, the Al Mansour esplanade is a prime location very close to the center of the city. It is also the site of the Mausoleum to the current king Mohamed VI's grandfather (Mohamed V) and father (Hassan II). They are laid to rest in richly decorated green-roofed below-ground tomb, and visitors can enter the open chamber from above. A Koran reader is often present, and the complex is guarded by smartly-dressed soldiers both on horseback and standing at attention.

 

Source: Lonely Planet Morocco, 6th Edition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Tower

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaqub,_Almohad_Caliph

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_of_Mohammed_V

#912 Volubilis (Oualli), Morocco

When I first moved to Morocco, I was still quite naive and my knowledge of history rather limited. Thus, I was rather astonished to discover that there was an important Roman city in the middle of the Moroccan heartland, close to the imperial Islamic cities of Fes and Meknes. Lying in a rich green inland valley not far from the Islamic village of Moulay Idriss, close to the main train line from Casablanca lies the ruins of Volubilis. 

My history professor at Al Akhawayn University wryly said that the reconstruction was of a poor quality, such as the 'neon-signage' of the main archway -- he insisted it would be imbedded rather than awkwardly on top, but alas, this was done in the 1930s.

Dating from the 2nd and 3rd centuries, although originally settled by Carthaginians, Volubilis was a producer of wheat and olives for the province of Mauretania Tingitana, but was insecure due to the surrounding Berber tribes and it's general isolation at the south-west corner of the empire. Eventually it fell to tribesmen in 285, but continued to be inhabited for another 700 years, first as a Christian city, then as an Islamic settlement. Muslim rulers eventually moved their capital to Fes, and both before and after an earthquake in the 18th century, much of the stone was used to build the capital of Meknes.

The floor mosaics were especially impressive -- very complete with strong colors considering the open-air exposure and many centuries when it was unlikely to have been a well-maintained site! I was impressed with the underfloor heating system as well that can be clearly seen.

Apologies for the photo quality. As with most of the other Morocco posts, these are film images printed and scanned with poor quality.

Source: Lonely Planet Morocco 6th Edition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volubilis