Kasbah Gnawa (
Arabic: قصبة ڭناوة), also referred to as: Kasbah of Gnaouas or Ismailian Kasbah is a
kasbah located in the city of
Salé in
Morocco, and is the only one on the right bank of the
Bou Regreg
The Bou Regreg ( ar, أبو رقراق) is a river located in western Morocco which discharges to the Atlantic Ocean between the cities of Rabat and Salé. The estuary of this river is termed Wadi Sala.
The river is 240 kilometres long, with a t ...
river.
Nowadays, the kasbah is hosting a circus school called "Shemsy's", which is the national Moroccan circus school, and the only circus school in Morocco and the whole of Africa.
Cirque Shemsy offers chance for Moroccan children to learn circus arts - Tinyhand (2020)
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History
The Kasbah Gnawa was originally one of the largest fortresses erected during the reign of Sultan Moulay Ismail in 1708 where the '' Jich Abid al-Bukhari'' (black slave guards from Western Sudan) were placed to protect the coasts of Salé and 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 populati ...
against attempts of penetration and foreign occupation. The guards were later accused of disrespecting the honor and virtue of local women, which provoked a violent reaction from the inhabitants, who formed a group led by the governor Abdelhaq Fennich, and attacked the kasbah in 1758.
After the death of Moulay Ismail, The monument was devastated due to riots and internal wars. The Kasbah was thus forgotten until the arrival of Hubert Lyautey in 1912, as the first general resident of France in Morocco. During the First World War, it served as a gathering point for the Moroccan infantry battalions who successively stayed there while awaiting their departure for the various fronts in France and the East.
In 1948, the kabsah was promoted to a national heritage site, by a royal dahir.
Pictures
File:مدخل قصبة كًناوة.jpg, Actual entrance of Kasbah Gnawa
File:قصبة كًناوة و المحيط الأطلسي.jpg, Kasbah Gnawa and the Atlantic Ocean
File:سور قصبة كناوة.jpg, Wall surrounding Kasbah Gnawa
References
{{Reflist
Buildings and structures in Salé
Kasbahs in Morocco
'Alawi architecture