Bab ad-Debbagh or Bab Debbagh () is one of the main eastern gates of the medina (historic walled city) 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 Marrake ...

, Morocco.

Description

The gate is the northernmost of the two eastern gates of the medina. It 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 tha ...

emir

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. Its name means "Gate of the Tanners" and refers to the nearby

tanneries Tanning may refer to: * Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather * Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun ** Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dy ...

which have been present here since the Almoravid period. It has the most complicated layout of any gate in the city: its passage bends 5 times, in an almost S-like path, passing through two open-air courts and one elongated chamber with a

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

ceiling. A staircase in the southeastern corner of the structure grants access to the roof of the gate. Scholars believe that only the central part of the gate (the vaulted chamber) dates back to the original Almoravid gate and that the inner and outer courtyard sections were added later by the

Almohads The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the unity of God) was a North African Berber Muslim empire ...

. The gate originally would have had a "simple" bent entrance (i.e. turning 90-degrees only once). File:Bab Debbagh plan.png, The floor plan of the gate today (light grey shaded areas indicate roofed areas) File:Bab Debbagh plan (hypothesized original).png, The hypothesized original floor plan of the gate File:Bab Debbagh exterior.jpg, The outer (eastern) entrance of the gate File:Bab debbagh DSCF1421.jpg, The first (eastern) inner courtyard of the gate, with one of the inner doorways File:Bab Debbagh interior.jpg, The bending passage inside the gate File:Bab debbagh DSCF1418.jpg, The inner (western) entrance of the gate

References

{{Marrakesh Almoravid architecture Gates of Marrakesh