Mausoleum, gigantic mosques and music

Two modern buildings in traditional Moroccan style, with stunning craftsmanship.


Photos 1 & 2 : Rabat

(1) A ceremonial guardsman at the doorway to the mausoleum of the Moroccan King Mohammed V (1909-1961) and his two sons, King Hassan II (1929-1999) and Prince Abdallah.

(2) The mausoleum is located beside the imposing ruins of the unfinished great mosque of Calif Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur (1160-1199).  The scaffolded building in the background is not modern, it is the mosque's similarly unfinished minaret, intended to be 60m tall but abandoned at 44 metres.

It was the ambitious Calif's early death which brought a halt to the building work, but the mosque continued in use until its destruction by the (Lisbon) earthquake of 1755.


Photos 3 & 4 : Casablanca

(3)  In its time Rabat's Al-Mansur mosque and minaret, if completed, would have been the largest in the world.  The Hassan II mosque in Casablanca was completed in 1993, and is the largest in Africa.  The complex was built over 6 years, Its 210m high minaret is the highest in the world.  The courtyard seen on this photo can accommodate 80,000 worshippers.

(4)  Part of the interior prayer hall, which can hold 25,000 worshippers.


Final photo : in the Kasbah des Oudaias, Rabat

And to finish off the day, a musician (and part-time street vendor) in Berber attire.  He is playing a sintou, a three-stringed instrument which for good acoustic reasons is covered in camel skin.