What to See in Meknes - Top Sights and Attractions

The Kasbah of Moulay Ismail is a vast palace complex and royal kasbah built by the Moroccan sultan Moulay Isma'il ibn Sharif in Meknes, Morocco. It is also known, among other names, as the Imperial City or Palace of Moulay Ismail, or the Kasbah of Meknes. It was built by Moulay Isma'il over the many decades of his reign between 1672 and 1727, when he made Meknes the capital of Morocco, and received occasional additions under later sultans.

In addition to Moulay Isma'il's own importance in the history of Morocco, his imperial palace in Meknes was notable for its vast scale and its complex infrastructure. The area covered by the kasbah was significantly larger than the old city of Meknes itself and operated as its own city with its own fortifications, water supply, food stockpiles, and troops. Historians later nicknamed it the "Moroccan Versailles". Today, many of the buildings from Moulay Isma'il's era have disappeared or fallen into ruin, but some notable monumental structures remain. A part of the area, the Dar al-Makhzen, is still in use as an occasional royal residence of the King of Morocco, while other sections of the complex have been converted to other functions or replaced with general residential neighbourhoods.^[1]

The Cheikh Al Kamel Mausoleum, also known as the Mausoleum of Sidi Mohammed Ben Aïssa, is a zawiya in Meknes, Morocco.

It was founded in the 16th century as the burial place of Mohammed Ben Aïssa (also known as Al-Hadi Ben Aïssa) the great saint of the city of Meknes and founder of a famous Sufi brotherhood of the 16th century, the Aissaoua. It serves as both a mausoleum and a mosque, and is located within the boundaries of a cemetery just outside the walls of the medina (old city) in the district of Bab al-Jadid, south of Bab al-Barda'in. The mausoleum is the focal point of an annual moussem (religious festival) is one of the most intense and was historically known for its displays of self-mutilation.

The current structure dates in part to the reign of the Alaouite sultan Mohammed Ben Abdallah, who built the qubba or mausoleum chamber over the saint's tomb.^[5]