Bab Agnaou (; ; sometimes transliterated as Bab Agnaw
) is one of the best-known
gates
Gates is the plural of gate, a point of entry to a space which is enclosed by walls. It may also refer to:
People
* Gates (surname), various people with the last name
* Gates Brown (1939-2013), American Major League Baseball player
* Gates McFadde ...
of
Marrakesh
Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...
,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
. Its construction is attributed to the
Almohad
The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the Tawhid, unity of God) was a North African Berbers, Berber M ...
caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur
Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Yūsuf ibn Abd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr (; c. 1160 – 23 January 1199 Marrakesh), commonly known as Yaqub al-Mansur () or Moulay Yacoub (), was the third Almohad Caliph. Succeeding his father, al-Mansur reigned from 118 ...
and was completed around 1188
or 1190.
The gate was the main public entrance to the
royal kasbah (citadel) in the southern part of the
medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
of Marrakesh.
The Kasbah, built by Yaqub al-Mansur, is the site of the nearby
El Mansouria Mosque (or Kasbah Mosque) and the
Saadian Tombs
The Saadian Tombs (, , ) are a historic royal necropolis in Marrakesh, Morocco, located on the south side of the Kasbah Mosque, inside the royal kasbah (citadel) district of the city. They date to the time of the Saadian dynasty and in particul ...
behind it, as well as the
El Badi Palace and the main Royal Palace (''Dar al-
Makhzen
Makhzen (Arabic: , Berber: ''Lmexzen'') is the governing institution in Morocco and in pre-1957 Tunisia, centered on the monarch and consisting of royal notables, top-ranking military personnel, landowners, security service bosses, civil servant ...
'') of the city.
Etymology
The word ''bab'' (, ar, باب) comes from the
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
word meaning 'Gate' or 'Door'. The name ''agnaou'' is believed to be of
Berber origin and had multiple historically reported meanings including "
mutes" and, later on, "
Black people
Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...
" (or the
Gnawa
The Gnawa (or Gnaoua, Ghanawa, Ghanawi, Gnawi'; Arabic: ڭناوة) are an ethnic group inhabiting Morocco.
The name Gnawa probably originated in the indigenous language of North Africa and the Sahara Desert. The phonology of this term accordi ...
); however, it's unclear what exact connotation the name had in this case.
It might also be translated to "a sheep without horns".
The potential reference to the Gnawa might be explained by the fact that the gate is in the southern part of the city and faces partly southwards, thus away from Berber
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
and more towards
sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
.
The gate was also called ''Bab al-Qasr'' ("Gate of the Palace") and ''Bab al-Kuhl'' ("Gate of
Kohl
Kohl may refer to:
*Kohl (cosmetics), an ancient eye cosmetic
*Kohl (surname), including a list of people with the surname
*Kohl's
Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. ...
").
Design
It is located just inside the walls of the main city (medina), near
Bab er-Robb, at the northwestern corner of the Kasbah. The function of the gate was primarily decorative, given its location already inside the city walls.
The gate was nonetheless originally flanked by two
bastion
A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...
towers crowned with
merlon
A merlon is the solid upright section of a battlement (a crenellated parapet) in medieval architecture or fortifications.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 202. Merlons are sometimes ...
s and the passage inside was a
bent entrance
A bent or indirect entrance is a defensive feature in medieval fortification.Adrian Boas, On a Necessary Vulnerability, https://www.adrianjboas.com/post/on-a-necessary-vulnerability In a castle with a bent entrance, the gate passage is narrow and ...
(meaning it turned 90 degrees before exiting) passing through a large vaulted vestibule.
On top of the gate was a terrace reached by an interior staircase.
This original layout made it similar to other monumental Almohad gates such as
Bab er-Rouah
Bab er-Rouah (also spelled Bab er-Ruwah or Bab Rouah) is a monumental City gate, gate in the Almohad Caliphate, Almohad-era ramparts of Rabat, Morocco.
History
It was built by the Almohad Caliphate, caliph Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, Ya'qub al- ...
in
Rabat
Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...
.
The flanking towers and the covered vestibule, however, have since disappeared, and the archway of the gate has been partly filled-in with a smaller and simpler brick arch. The reduction of the archway likely dates from the time of the
Alaouite
The Alawi dynasty ( ar, سلالة العلويين الفيلاليين, translit=sulālat al-ʿalawiyyīn al-fīlāliyyīn) – also rendered in English as Alaouite, Alawid, or Alawite – is the current Moroccan royal family and reigning d ...
sultan
Sidi Muhammad ibn Abdallah, who carried out numerous works in the area of the Kasbah.
The current small open courtyard behind the gate is the result of later work.
Nonetheless, the gate has preserved its rich stone-carved decoration from the Almohad period, again comparable to that of Bab er-Rouah and of
Bab Oudaia
Bab Oudaya (also spelled Bab Oudaia or Bab Udaya; ), also known as Bab Lakbir or Bab al-Kabir (), is the monumental gate of the Kasbah of the Udayas in Rabat, Morocco. The gate, built in the late 12th century, is located at the northwest corner ...
in Rabat.
The façade consists of sandstone, likely quarried in the Gueliz area near Marrakesh.
The original arch of the gate is surrounded by alternating semi-circular bands that alternate between radiating lines and
interlacing arch motifs.
The
spandrel
A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...
s (corner areas) are covered in floral motifs (
arabesque
The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...
s), each with a carved shell in the middle.
All of this ornamentation is in turn framed by a long frieze carved with an inscription from the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
in foliated
Kufic
Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...
letters.
The inscription includes excerpts from the
Surah al-Hijr.
On either side of the decorated facade are
pilaster
In classical architecture
Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...
s which are sometimes thought to have supported a canopy or
awning
An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tightly over a lig ...
but which is believed by many scholars to have been merely a decorative transition between the decorated facade and the flanking bastions of the gate.
State of conservation
The stone materials of the gate has suffered over time. Some of the upper stone decoration has deteriorated.
The causes of the decay have been attributed to the presence of soluble salts, particularly
chlorides
The chloride ion is the anion (negatively charged ion) Cl−. It is formed when the element chlorine (a halogen) gains an electron or when a compound such as hydrogen chloride is dissolved in water or other polar solvents. Chloride salts ...
and
sulfates
The sulfate or sulphate ion is a polyatomic anion with the empirical formula . Salts, acid derivatives, and peroxides of sulfate are widely used in industry. Sulfates occur widely in everyday life. Sulfates are salts of sulfuric acid and many a ...
, present in the mortar used to fix the stones. Local air pollution is also having a negative effect on the state of the gate.
See also
*
Bab Ksiba Bab Ksiba ( ar, باب القصيبة, ') is a gate in Marrakech, Morocco. Bab Ksiba and another more famous gate further north, Bab Agnaou, served as entrances to the royal Kasbah (citadel) in the southern part of the medina of Marrakech, a UNESC ...
*
Giralda
The Giralda ( es, La Giralda ) is the bell tower of Seville Cathedral in Seville, Spain. It was built as the minaret for the Great Mosque of Seville in al-Andalus, Moorish Spain, during the reign of the Almohad dynasty, with a Renaissance-style ...
*
Hassan Tower
Hassan Tower or Tour Hassan ( ar, صومعة حسان; ) is the minaret of an incomplete mosque in Rabat, Morocco. It was commissioned by Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, the third Caliph of the Almohad Caliphate, near the end of the 12th century. The ...
*
Koutoubia Mosque
The Kutubiyya Mosque ( ; Berber: ⵜⵉⵎⵣⴳⵉⴷⴰ ⵏ ⵍⴽⵓⵜⵓⴱⵉⵢⵢⴰ, french: Mosquée Koutoubia) or Koutoubia Mosque is the largest mosque in Marrakesh, Morocco. The mosque's name is also variably rendered as Jami' al-Ku ...
*
Menara gardens
The Menara Gardens ( ar, حدائق المنارة) are a historic public garden and orchard in Marrakech, Morocco. They were established in the 12th century (circa 1157) by the Almohad Caliphate ruler Abd al-Mu'min. Along with the Agdal Gardens ...
References
External links
Agnaou Gate in Manar al-Athar digital photo archive{{Marrakesh
Gates of Marrakesh
Almohad architecture
Buildings and structures completed in the 12th century
Tourist attractions in Marrakesh