Bab Doukkala (Marrakesh)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Bab Doukkala () is the main northwestern gate 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 second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
(historic walled city) of Marrakesh,
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 t ...
.


Description

The gate dates back to around 1126 CE when the
Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...
emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
Ali ibn Yusuf Ali ibn Yusuf (also known as "Ali Ben Youssef") () (born 1084 died 26 January 1143) was the 5th Almoravid emir. He reigned from 1106–1143. Biography Ali ibn Yusuf was born in 1084 in Ceuta. He was the son of Yusuf ibn T ...
built the first walls of the city.
Doukkala Doukkala () is a tribal confederation of mostly Arab origin, and is also a natural region of Morocco made of fertile plains and forests. Nowadays it is part of the Casablanca-Settat administrative region. The region is a plain stretching fr ...
, was that of both a Berber tribe and of a region between Marrakesh and Casablanca today. Unlike many other gates of the city, it has not been subject to major modifications (at least in its floor plan) and retains its original sophisticated
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 ...
design from the Almoravid period. The passage inside the gate bends at a
straight angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two rays, called the '' sides'' of the angle, sharing a common endpoint, called the ''vertex'' of the angle. Angles formed by two rays lie in the plane that contains the rays. Angles a ...
twice: one enters from the west, turns south, then turns east before emerging into the city. Today the gate is flanked by other simple openings in the wall to allow for easy circulation. The city's main intercity bus terminal is also located just outside and slightly north of Bab Doukkala gate. File:Bab Doukkala plan.png, Floor plan of Bab Doukkala (the light grey shaded areas indicate roofed areas inside the gate) File:Moorish gates (49907885093).jpg, Bab Doukkala exterior (western) facade File:Bab Doukkala exterior.jpg, Bab Doukkala inner (eastern) facade


References

{{Marrakesh Almoravid architecture Gates of Marrakesh