Author
Contemporary writers of Sultan Mawla Ismail unanimously agreed that the Sultan himself was the architect of his sultanate city, and perhaps he personally managed and supervised the works, and he did not hesitate, every time he was present in Meknes, to participate directly in them. This prompted the Englishman John Windus, who visited Meknes in 1721 AD, to say that:
Author Original
أجمع الكتاب المعاصرون للسلطان المولى إسماعيل، على أن السلطان نفسه كان معماري مدينته السلطانية، وربما أدار الأعمال وأشرف عليها شخصيا، ولم يتردد، في كل مرة كان موجوداً في مكناس، في المشاركة بشكل مباشر فيها وهذا ماحدا بالإنجليزي جون ويندوس، الذي زار مكناس عام م، إلى القول بأن
Publication Date
11th - 12th century AH / 17th - 18th century AD
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;16;ar
Library Location
Meknes, Morocco
Date
11th - 12th century AH / 17th - 18th century AD
Notes
Sultan Mawla Ismail ordered the construction of huge buildings in his capital, the city of Meknes, which he worked on before ascending to the throne, including many palaces connected to each other and surrounded by walls and gardens. This princely complex, also called the Kasbah, consists of the palaces of the Grand House, the Dar al-Mansour, the Dar al-Madrasa, and the Dar al-Mhansha. Two walls were built around these palaces, one of them simple internal, without balconies or defensive towers, and the other external, ranging in height from 9 to 12 metres, interspersed with many doors, surmounted by a corridor for the guards, and supported by defensive towers. The palaces communicate with each other by means of traditional paths in the form of winding corridors. It is open, and sometimes has roofs, in the form of an open dome. The palace of the Grand House, which was built between 1083 and 1091 AH / 1672 - 1680 AD, consists of several parts designated for the luxurious housing of the royal family and relatives close to the Sultan. It is organized in the form of courtyards, courtyards, reception rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, grain stores, ovens, and stores. As for the currently demolished Al-Mansour Palace, it includes a cistern, a prayer hall, and a mosque. The palace is completed by six stables that were added to it, accommodating 1,200 horses and mules, and weapons warehouses. Meanwhile, the other two palaces, the Madrasa and Dar al-Mhansha, constituted the main residences of Mawla Ismail. They are accessed through an amazing corridor, Asraj (an Amazigh word meaning square or walkway), consisting of two high, walled courtyards, separating the Kasserine from the Sidi Omar neighborhood. These palaces overlooked a large water tank known as the Souani Cistern, and were all integrated with gardens, the most famous of which are Bahraouiyya and Satranjieh, which have today been transformed into a golf course. Three of these palaces have been rehabilitated and restored, and are currently being used as royal residences. Binhadar Al-Mahnesha, which takes its name from the serpentine-shaped water fountain that adorns its large courtyard, and which is based on a very precise architectural conception. The palace was built on a rectangular floor, 400 meters wide and 240 meters long, surrounded by a wall crowned with a guard corridor on its southern side. It is accessed through a huge door, (Bab al-Makhzen), whose arch was built of brick and mud, and decorated with a mosaic of multi-colored tiles. The walls of this palace complex include several structures, especially: - A very simple rectangular courtyard, which includes guardhouses, stalls for horses, and an old garden for rare animals, (Douiriyet Al-Sabaa) that has been reconfigured into apartments. - A second courtyard surrounded by guardhouses, and its center is decorated with a water tank covered in multi-tile tiles. Colors, and four fountains in the corners. - A mosque whose square architectural shape was inspired by a Turkish man, but whose decoration is particularly Moroccan in character, with its minaret with a square base, decorated with solid arches, its mihrab decorated with multi-colored zellige mosaics, its broken and crossed arch, the facade of the arch decorated with connected floral wreaths, and its carved plaster panels. - The Diwan (Duwayriyyat al-Nasr) includes a courtyard occupying its center. Oval shaped watering can. One of its sides is distinguished by its three corridors, of which the middle corridor consists of walls decorated with tiles up to half their height, and a ceiling of painted wood. This space is known as the Victory Dome, where the Sultan used to hold his work sessions. On the other side of the courtyard, six rooms were allocated for writers. - The royal apartments called (Riad Al-Mhansha): The three facades of a trapezoid-shaped courtyard (84 meters, 88 meters, 74 meters, and 71 metres), paved with white marble and decorated in the middle with a rectangular cistern, were lined with private apartments, women’s apartments with their annexes, and celebration halls, lavishly decorated with tiles, carved plaster, and wood. Al-Masbugh - Six large gardens lined up two by two from east to west. The most elaborate marble arch is connected via a large balcony to the celebration halls, and leads via a central walkway to a large reception hall, isolated in the middle of the gardens, known as the Dome of Essaouira.
Sample Text
Mohamed Mezzine “Palace of Moulay Ismail” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;16;ar
