Dar al-Makhzen (, ber, ⵜⴰⴷⴰⵔⵜ ⵏ ⵎⴿⵣⵏ) is the primary and

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

of the

king of Morocco This is the list of rulers of Morocco, since the establishment of the state in 789. The common and formal titles of these rulers has varied, depending on the time period. Since 1957, the designation King has been used. The present King of Mor ...

. It is situated in the Touarga

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

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 populatio ...

, the national

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

. Its official name is ''El Mechouar Essaid'' Palace, which means 'The Venue of Happiness Palace'.

History

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 ...

sultans Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, i ...

and kings have maintained a palace in Rabat since the 18th-century reign of sultan

Mohammed ben Abdallah ''Sidi'' Mohammed ben Abdallah ''al-Khatib'' ( ar, سيدي محمد بن عبد الله الخطيب), known as Mohammed III ( ar, محمد الثالث), born in 1710 in Fes and died on 9 April 1790 in Meknes, was the Sultan of Morocco from 17 ...

, who used Rabat as one of his imperial residences and renovated royal palaces in other cities. The current building was built in 1864 by Mohammed IV to replace the older palace. When most of Morocco came under French control in 1912, the colonial administration wanted the sultan to be largely stationed in one place, near their own administrative headquarters, in order to show his acceptance of the new regime. Although kings had many residences at their disposal, when independence was declared in 1955, they chose to keep the Dar al-Makhzen palace as the main palace of the monarch. Some monarchs, particularly Mohammed V, preferred the smaller and relatively secluded palace of Dar es-Salaam, further out of centre of the city, maintaining the Dar al-Makhzen as their official and administrative residence. Several important events in the lives of a number of Moroccan royals have taken place in the palace, including the birth of

Hassan II Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People * Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scotti ...

in 1929 and the marriage ceremony of Mohammed VI and Salma Bennani in 2002.

Design and Construction

The palace sits at the end of the ''

mechouar Mechouar or meshwar (; ; ) is a type of location, typically a courtyard within a palace or a public square at the entrance of a palace, in the Maghreb (western North Africa) or in historic al-Andalus (Muslim Spain and Portugal). It can serve vari ...

'', a large parade ground also containing a small

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

. The ''mechouar'' is used for large public assemblies, such as the return from exile of Mohammed V in 1955. As well as living space for the king and the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term pa ...

, there is accommodation for the

Moroccan Royal Guard The Moroccan Royal Guard ( ar, الحرس الملكي المغربي, french: Garde royale marocaine, es, Guardia Real Marroquí) is officially part of the Royal Moroccan Army. However it is under the direct operational control of the Royal Mili ...

. The palace complex also contains the Collège Royal, a school for senior members of the royal family, a cookery school, and a ground floor library built to contain the manuscript collection of Hassan II. There are extensive gardens and grounds surrounding the palace, the design of which was influenced by French formality, traditional Arabic motifs and

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dar-al-Makhzen, Rabat 1860s architecture 1912 establishments in Morocco Palaces in Morocco Royal residences in Morocco Buildings and structures in Rabat 'Alawi architecture

History

Design and Construction

See also

References