Rabat’s status as Morocco’s national capital almost does this extraordinary city a disservice. But forget about the grey suits occupying positions of power in its modern bureaucracy, and instead focus on sights in this Imperial City that have no match anywhere else in this welcoming North African nation.
Occupying both the banks of the Bouregreg River and the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, Rabat remains in its soul a historic city, whose tall pinkish-white stone walls have become pleasant spots for pocket parks and cafes serving up sweet mint tea.
The walls date to the twelfth century, and passing through one of the many gateways, you’ll find a medina Old Town quarter that for the most part has remained unchanged despite the passage of hundreds of years. Adjacent is the Kasbah, or citadel, of the Udayas, whose southern part is home to the Pavilion of Moulay Ismail containing the National Jewelry Museum, which sparkles once again after a 2023 refurbishment.
However, the symbol of the city remains the Tour Hassan or Hasson Tower. Dating to the medieval period, the tower rises almost 150 feet high, and is surrounded by rows of neat columns numbering 348 in total. They belong to a never-finished mosque that would have been one of the largest in the world.
Equally striking is the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, the king who led Morocco to independence from France and Spain in 1956. Guarded by soldiers in ceremonial clothing and kept spotlessly clean, the king’s final resting place only adds to the sense of Rabat as a city with a confirmed place in history.
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