Bab Mahrouk, also spelled Bab Mahruq, ( ) is historically the main western
city gate
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway.
Uses
City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...
of
Fes el Bali
Fes el Bali ( ar, فاس البالي, lit=Old Fes, ber, ⴼⴰⵙ ⴰⵇⴷⵉⵎ) is the oldest walled part of Fez, Morocco. Fes el Bali was founded as the capital of the Idrisid dynasty between 789 and 808 AD. UNESCO listed Fes el Bali, alon ...
, the old
walled city of
Fes
Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...
,
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 ...
. The gate dates from 1204 and is located on the northwestern corner of
Place Bou Jeloud, near the edge of
Kasbah an-Nouar
The Kasbah An-Nouar or Kasbah Filali is a walled district and former military enclosure in the old medina of Fez, Morocco. Its name means "citadel of the flowers", but it is sometimes also referred to as Kasbah Filala and Kasbah Chorfa. It is one ...
. It was historically the approximate starting point of the old city's main street,
Tala'a Kebira
Tala'a Kebira (alternate spellings include ''Talaa Kbira'', ''Tala'a al-Kbira'', etc) (, 'the Great Slope/Climb') is one of the longest and most important streets in Fes el-Bali, the old city (medina) of Fes, Morocco. The street runs roughly eas ...
.
History
The current gate was built in 1204 by 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 ...
ruler
Muhammad al-Nasir
Muhammad al-Nasir (,'' al-Nāṣir li-dīn Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Manṣūr'', – 1213) was the fourth Almohad Caliph from 1199 until his death. Évariste Lévi-Provençalal-Nāṣir Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill Online, 2013 ...
(ruled 1199-1213), who rebuilt the
city walls and fortifications of Fes generally.
It was also known (perhaps at an earlier period before the Almohad construction) as ''Bab ash-Shari'a'' ( meaning roughly "Gate of Justice/Law"), but became known as ''Bab Mahruq'' ("Gate of the Burnt") after the body of a
Wazzani
Al Wazzani (Al-Ouazzani), also known as Arab Louaize or Aarab El Louaizeh,Water Wars in the Middle East: A Looming Threat, Hussein A. Amery, The Geographical Journal, Vol. 168, 2002 is a small Lebanese village in the Hasbaya District of the Naba ...
rebel called al-'Ubaydi was burnt here in 1203-04 (600
AH).
The heads of executed rebels were hung here on display, a practice that continued on occasion even up to the beginning of the 20th century.
On some occasions the condemned were hung by the wrists just above the ground for a full day before their execution.
Today the gate is still standing but several other openings in the wall have been created nearby to allow for the passage of vehicles and regular traffic.
Description
Like many medieval fortified gates, the gate has 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 ...
, entered from the west but turning 90 degrees to the south.
It opens through a large
horseshoe or Moorish arch, surrounded by a shallow rectangular frame (similar to Bab Mahrouk on the other side of the city).
Another simple opening in the walls, inserted in recent times for better circulation, can also be found to the south of the gate structure.
West of the gate, outside the city walls, stretches the historic Bab Mahrouk Cemetery, one of the main cemeteries of the old city. It includes the mausoleum of 12th-century
Islamic scholar
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of reli ...
Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi
Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi or, in full Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn al-ʿArabī al-Maʿāfirī al-Ishbīlī ( ar, أبو بكر محمّد ابن عبدالله ابن العربى المعافرى الأسفلى) born in Sevilla in 1076 ...
.
Ibn al-Khatib
Lisan ad-Din Ibn al-Khatib ( ar, لسان الدين ابن الخطيب, Lisān ad-Dīn Ibn al-Khaṭīb) (Born 16 November 1313, Loja– died 1374, Fes; full name in ar, محمد بن عبد الله بن سعيد بن عبد الله بن ...
, a famous
Andalusi The Arabic '' nisbah'' (attributive title) Al-Andalusi denotes an origin from Al-Andalus. Al-Andalusi may refer to:
* Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati
* Ibn Hazm
* Ibn Juzayy
* Ibn 'Atiyya
* Said Al-Andalusi
Ṣāʿid al-Andalusī (); he was Abū al-Qāsi ...
poet and
Nasrid court official from
Granada
Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
, was also buried here after he was killed while jailed in Fez in 1375.
Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi
Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi or, in full Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn al-ʿArabī al-Maʿāfirī al-Ishbīlī ( ar, أبو بكر محمّد ابن عبدالله ابن العربى المعافرى الأسفلى) born in Sevilla in 1076 ...
File:Das Grab.JPG, Interior of the mausoleum of Ibn al-Arabi
References
{{Fes
Gates of Fez, Morocco
Almohad architecture