After our P-Tech visit on Saturday, Sunday presented an opportunity to explore more of Morocco. Rabat is an hour away and the capital of Morocco. The city proper has about 600,000 residents and the metro area has over 1.5 million. Fun fact from Wikipedia - was ranked at second place by CNN in its "Top Travel Destinations of 2013".[4] It is one of four Imperial cities of Morocco, and the city of Rabat is listed as a World Heritage Site with Chella, the Kasbah of the Udayas and the medina included.

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With a short day trip planned on Sunday, we didn’t have time to really explore the medina, but we did explore Chella, the Hassan Tower and the Kasbah.

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Chella is an amazing, sprawling site. I’m not exactly sure how old it is, but it’s very old. The site and the city were founded by the ancient Phoenicians. The Carthaginians then were there later, followed by the Romans building a site very near to the original site.

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The Romans extended their highway across North Africa to Chella, which we walked on. They called the site Sala Colonia and built a forum and an arch and the Roman military occupied the area until the 5th century.

The Christian Berbers ran the place until the Muslim Arabs arrived in the 7th century and then in the middle of the 12th century it was converted to a royal burial ground. The mosque was finished in 1284 but an earthquake in 1755 damaged many of the buildings.

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It’s an incredible site it seems so rural but Rabat and its bustle is right next to it. It’s amazing to see the Latin inscriptions dating back at least 1,500 years. We wandered around and around every corner as an incredible view – you’ll notice that in the amount of photos in the extended view.

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From there, we took a taxi to Hassan Tower. Hassan Tower is much, much newer – it was only started in 1195 and was designed to the biggest mosque in the world. In 1195, the Sultan, Yaqub al-Mansur, died and construction stopped, but there were able to get a lot done. The tower is 140 ft. high, half of its designed height and a massive amount of pillars were in place that would have eventually supported the structure.

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On the other end of the complex stands the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. It’s an impressive structure that holds the tombs of Mohammend V and his sons, King Hassan II and his brother Prince Abdallah. It was completed in 1971 and is one of the few places you can take a picture of royal guards.

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Next, we went to lunch on the water where the river Bou Regreg meets the sea. Kids were diving into the water, trying to one up each other, kites were flying and we had our own personal cat playing under the table and next to us. The sun was shining and it was probably the nicest day, weather wise, since we’ve been here – just a perfect day.

 

After lunch, we walked up the hill to the Kasbah which was reconstructed in 1150. A Kasbah, in this instance, is a fortress and the Kasbah of the Udayas was actually abandoned in 1199 for some time. It’s often known for its blue and white walls. From the top we saw some amazing views of the city, the ocean and the surfers doing their thing down below.

We wandered through the area and down the hill to the Andalusian Gardens which is a beautiful, tranquil spot at the bottom of the Kasbah right next to one of the exits and across the street from the medina.

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By the time we walked out, we realized the day was nearly over and it was time to head back to the train station for the hour trip back to Casablanca. Rabat is a great city and our group really cherished the opportunity to bond over the shared experience.

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Time is getting short and we’re starting to feel it. The next post will cover our preparations to complete our mission – more to come.