Moulay Yacoub ( ar, مولاي يعقوب ''mūlāy yaʿqūb'') is a

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. He ...

and municipality located 21 km northwest of

Fez, Morocco 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, Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the List of cities in Morocco, second largest city i ...

. It is the capital of

Moulay Yacoub Province Moulay Yacoub (Arabic:مولاي يعقوب ) is a province in Fès-Meknès, Morocco. It had a population of 150,422 as per the 2004 census report. The capital is the spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a develope ...

and reported a population of 4612 in the

2014 Moroccan census The 2014 Moroccan census The moroccan census of the population, officially named general census of the population and the habitat (RGPH), is a census taking place every ten years in the kingdom. It is established under the responsibility of the Hig ...

. The baths use water pumped from 1500 m below ground and reach a temperature of 54 °C.

History

The town is assumed to have taken its name to

Yaqub al-Mansur Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Yūsuf ibn Abd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr (; c. 1160 – 23 January 1199 Marrakesh), commonly known as Yaqub al-Mansur () or Moulay Yacoub (), was the third Almohad Caliph. Succeeding his father, al-Mansur reigned from 11 ...

, the third ruler of the Almohad Caliphate, who ritually purified himself from illness during his administration in the late 12th century. It is a modern traditional spa complex and preserves its archaic thermal waters.

References

Populated places in Fès-Meknès Provincial capitals in Morocco Hot springs {{FèsMeknès-geo-stub