The Dar al-Makina () is a former arms factory in

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 ...

History

The Dar al-Makina (an

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 ...

adaptation of the word "machine") was established by Sultan Moulay Hassan in 1885–86 with the help of Italian officers. The northern gate of the New Mechouar, known as Bab Khibbat es-Smen ("Gate of the Butter Niche"), also dates from the 1886 construction of Moulay Hassan. The arms factory was an early attempt at industrialization in Fez and was part of the sultan's efforts to modernize the Moroccan army to compete with European powers, though they did not have enormous effect. The factory is no longer in use today and stands abandoned and partially ruined. The structure is scheduled to be restored between 2018 and 2023 as part of a broader plan to restore over a hundred historic monuments in Fez.

Description

The building occupies the western side of the New Mechouar square near the Dar al-Makhzen (Royal Palace) in Fes el-Jdid. It is entered by a gateway, ''Bab al-Makina'', in an

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

architectural style opening on the west side of the square. Inside, the Dar al-Makina consists of a vast series of

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 ...

chambers, similar to the architecture of the Heri as-Swani, the royal granaries of

Moulay Ismail Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif ( ar, مولاي إسماعيل بن الشريف), born around 1645 in Sijilmassa and died on 22 March 1727 at Meknes, was a Sultan of Morocco from 1672–1727, as the second ruler of the Alaouite dynasty. He was the se ...

Meknes Meknes ( ar, مكناس, maknās, ; ber, ⴰⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ, amknas; french: Meknès) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th c ...

. File:Arsenal - Porte de l'Arsenal - Fès - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - AP62T080468.jpg, Bab al-Makina, the entrance of the Dar al-Makina, in 1913 File:Ateliers du sultan - Fès - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - AP62T080476.jpg, Inside the Dar al-Makina File:Arsenal du sultan - Arsenal du sultan, menuisiers marocains - Fès - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - AP62T060659.jpg, Workers in the Dar al-Makina in 1916 File:Chutes d'eau de la Makina - Fès - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - AP62T080465.jpg, View of the Fez River and the waters which were diverted to power the factory

References

{{Morocco-struct-stub category:Buildings and structures in Fez, Morocco