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Emerging from the boulevards of the Ville Nouvelle (New Town) of Rabat one comes across the ruins of Chellah, once the thriving walled Roman port city of Sala Colonia, abandoned in 1154 in favour of Sale across the other side of the river mouth. In the time of the Almohads the site was used as a royal burial ground. The Merenid Sultan Abou El Hassan added some monuments and the striking main gate during his reign in the mid-14th century. Just inside the gate are the Roman ruins dating from 200 BC, which includes a forum, a temple and a craftsmen's quarter
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You will be seduced by the calm and beauty of the old town of Rabat, with its flower-bedecked alleys and white houses. Visit the magnificent Andalusian-style garden of the Oudayas Kasbah, right next to the medina. The new part of the city is also very charming with its wide avenues and many cafés, but you will be really impressed by the Hassan Tower and the Mohamed V mausoleum.
Beach lovers will find paradise south of Rabat and golf fans may play at the Royal Golf Dar Es-Salam. On the red course, hole n°9 is only accessible by playing over the water lilies! It is one of the attractions of this course which hosts the famous Hassan II trophy every year
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An airy 'village within the city', the Kasbah is a pleasant place to take a stroll to admire some interesting architecture and see some sights. The Kasbah was the Alhomad citadel of medieval Rabat, and is guarded by an impressive arched gate built around 1195. Inside the Kasbah is the palace and Andalucian gardens, as well as a broad terrace, which gives beautiful views of the river and sea close to the city's oldest mosque, the Kasbah Mosque, founded in 1050. Below the terrace are several fortifications with gun emplacements guarding the estuary, and even further below is a beach, usually crowded with local people.
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Five major gates stand at the entrances to Rabat, all decorated with ornate festoons, tracery and floral arabesques and large shells. Bab er-Rouah (Gate of the Winds) is the finest. Monumental and magnificent, it regularly houses exhibitions. You will probably have the opportunity of seeing one while you are there.
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The Ville Nouvelle has beautiful modern French-built hotels and also the standard chain hotels. Hotel space is limited especially in midsummer and June so be sure to book a room well in advance. If you don't come right with a hotel, then try a luxury hotel, a villa, a self-catering cottage or a studio apartment
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Rabat’s Medina, or old city, was created by Andalucian Muslim refugees from Badajoz in Spain, and was essentially all there was to the city until the arrival of the French in 1912 and the subsequent building of the Ville Nouvelle or new quarter. The Medina is small and not as interesting or attractive as the old city sections of Fez or Marrakech, however the foundouks (traditional cafes) and shops make for a lively atmosphere
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The massive minaret of the Hassan Mosque, dating from 1195, towers over Rabat, although the huge mosque itself was never entirely completed and was largely destroyed in an earthquake in 1755. The minaret is unusually sited at the centre of the mosque building, and was intended to be 262ft (80m) high, though it stands today at 164ft (50m). Each façade of the minaret is intricately patterned with different motifs on each face. Opposite the Hassan Mosque is the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, one of the great monuments of modern Morocco, inaugurated in 1967. The deceased king lies entombed in white onyx, surrounded by royal guards, and hundreds of Moroccans pay homage by filing through the mausoleum each day!
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