Day 2 - Rabat

Brief Info
Rabat, with a population of 650,000 people, is the capital and 3rd largest city of Morocco. Rabat is also the capital of the Rabat-Sale-Zemmour-Zaer region.

Rabat is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg. On the facing shore of the river lies Salé, Rabat's bedroom community. Together the two cities with Temara account for a population of approximately1,8 million. Silting problems have diminished the Rabat's important role as a port; however, Rabat and Salé still maintain relatively important cities for textile, food processing and construction; some are from sweatshop labor by major multinational corporations.

Rabat
Our main destination for the second day of the tour is Morocco’s capital city, Rabat. Rabat will open up only slowly to you. From the very first moments of your arrival, you will discover that there is another atmosphere here, and compared to other Moroccan cities, people here are a bit shy and do not tend to start talking to you easily. But walking your lonely walks around town, the many gems of a capital of a magic country will reveal themselves to you. Here you will find both old Muslim quarters, as well as beautiful remains from all periods of Moroccan history. Rabat’s main attractions are the Hassan tower and the Kings’ Mausoleum. The magnificent mausoleum was built on a high hill by the river for the king who died in 1962. Nowadays, you will see guards standing in front of it in fancy uniforms.

Opposite the mausoleum, there is the Hassan tower, which was designed to be the minaret of what was to be the world’s largestmosque, but could never be completed. The minaret was designed to become 80 metres tall, but the whole building process came to a halt when it reached 50 metres. The gigantic earthquake of 1755, which also destroyed central Lisbon, tore down the structure to the condition that it now is in. Leaving the tower behind us, we head towards Kasbah de Oudaïas this time. Having Morocco’s most picturesque streets, this place is another major tourist attraction. It is a beautiful and quiet spot in the ever increasingly busy Rabat. With its white houses and blue painted parapets, Kasbah de Oudaïas is in much better condition than most of the other old cities in Morocco. After taking lots of photos, we move onto our last stop in Rabat, to the mystical and elegant looking Chellah ruins. Bearing the traces of many civilisations from the Phoenicians to Carthaginians and Romans, Chellah’s 800-year-old gate is definitely worth seeing.