The Kasbah An-Nouar or Kasbah Filali is a walled district and former military enclosure in the old medina of Fez, Morocco. Its name means "citadel of the flowers", but it is sometimes also referred to as Kasbah Filala and Kasbah Chorfa. [1] It is one of several fortified military enclosures or kasbahs that were built around the old city of Fez across different periods.
The foundation of the kasbah reportedly dates to the Almohad period when Muhmmad al-Nasir (12th century) rebuilt the fortifications of Fez. [1] [2] It is likely that it took its present form, however, during the 'Alawi period, [3] [4] when it acquired its association with the Filala (settlers from the Tafilalt region). [1]
The Almohads under Abd al-Mu'min conquered Fez in 1145 after a difficult siege in which the inhabitants had put up fierce resistance. In retaliation for this opposition and to prevent future resistance, Abd al-Mu'min ordered all the walls and fortifications of Fez to be demolished. [5] Eventually, however, given the city's central economic importance and its role as a military base for northern Morocco, the fourth Almohad caliph, Muhammad al-Nasir (1199–1213), built a new circuit of city walls as well as two citadels or kasbahs in the west of the city. The decision to fortify the city at this time may also have been due to the Almohads' serious defeat at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, which rendered the empire more vulnerable. [5]
One of these new kasbahs was the Kasbah An-Nouar, erected in an area adjacent to the western gate of Bab Mahrouk (which was also built at this time). [1] [5] The other, Kasbah Bou Jeloud, was built nearby to the south on the site of the former Almoravid citadel near Bab Bou Jeloud. The Kasbah Bou Jeloud is no longer fortified today but was of notable importance for being the residence of the governor of Fez at various periods (including at the beginning of the 20th century). [3]
The defensive system of Fez continued to evolve, however. The Marinids, who succeeded the Almohads in the 13th century and made Fez their capital and residence, found the existing military citadels insufficient for their own purposes. Instead, they built the new palace-city of Fes el-Jdid to the west, outside the old city (Fes el-Bali), with its own walls and bastions. [5] When Morocco was taken over by the Saadian dynasty (16th-17th centuries) the capital was moved to Marrakesh, while the Saadians built new fortresses (among them Borj Nord) to keep Fez under control. [5]
The first 'Alawi sultan, Moulay Rachid (1664–1672), once again turned Fez into the capital of Morocco. The 'Alawi sharifs (descendants of the Prophet Muhammad) had been based in the eastern oasis region of Tafilalt before they conquered the country, and as a result Moulay Rachid was followed and accompanied by many people from that region as he came to power. The Kasbah en-Nouar was given over to settlers from the Tafilalt and thus acquired the name Kasbah Filala (meaning "Citadel of the people from Tafilalt"; Filala being the corresponding demonym). [1] It was given a certain special status and autonomy from the rest of the old city. Moulay Rachid also built the nearby Kasbah Cherarda to house guich tribes, showing the extent to which sultans often built new districts on the edge of Fez to suite the needs of their regime. [6]
The Kasbah An-Nouar's walls and its Friday mosque were restored under the later 'Alawi sultan Moulay Slimane (1792–1822). [1] [7] The kasbah's main gate, Bab Chorfa, also dates from the 'Alawi period in its current form. [3] [4]
Historically, since the 'Alawi period, the community inside the kasbah was self-governed (instead of governed by officials of the central government). It elected its own council of 12 elders who in turn designated a chief, a secretary and a treasurer. [3] These leaders were in charge of managing the neighbourhood's services and infrastructure, which could be maintained thanks to specially reserved revenues under waqf (trust) agreements. These included, for example, the revenues of various shops and rented housing. [3]
This self-governance reflects the fact that, up until at least the 20th century, the kasbah was inhabited strictly by families of Filali (Tafilalt) origin, and this system likely reflected practices of local governance that existed in the Tafilalt. [3] Among them were also many sharifian families of the extended royal 'Alawi family (also of Filali origin, as mentioned), which may have further motivated the district's special status. [3] [1] (This may also be the reason for the name of its gate, Bab Chorfa; shurafa being the plural of Arabic sharif.) Entry to the kasbah was forbidden to non-Muslims, and even other Muslims were not welcome unless they belonged to one of the local Filali families. [3] In his 1982 book on Fez, author Attilio Gaudio stated that the Kasbah was still closed to non-Muslims. [1]
The Kasbah (citadel) is located at the western or north-western tip of Fes el-Bali, between Bab Bou Jeloud (the main western entrance to the old medina) and Bab Mahrouk. It is enclosed by tall fortified walls and closed off from the rest of the medina: the main city walls of Fes el-Bali run along its northwestern side, while another wall curtails it on its eastern and southern sides. [3]
Its only entry point is Bab Chorfa, a monumental gate that opens from Place Bou Jeloud (Bou Jeloud Square; also known as Place Pacha el-Baghdadi or Place Baghdadi). [8] The gate is flanked by two strong octagonal towers and is decorated with carved patterns. Inside, the gate has a bent passage (i.e. it turns at straight angle multiple times) and is composed of several sequential chambers. [5] [3] Inside the towers are a dozen chambers which historically could be rented out to contribute to the revenues of the community. [3]
Inside the walls, the kasbah today is a residential district packed with houses and winding alleys, much like the rest of the medina. Just north of the entrance, near the beginning of the kasbah's main street, is a Friday mosque, flanked by a small public square (Ous'at Bab el-Jama'). [3] Its minaret is fairly prominent and easily visible from outside the kasbah, and its main portal off the square. The date and origin of the mosque is uncertain, but likely coincides with the kasbah's foundation, which may make it an Almohad foundation as well, but most likely later restored or rebuilt under the 'Alawis. [3] [1]
Outside the kasbah, in front of Bab Chorfa, is a local but extensive open-air market that has taken place here for generations. [9]
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Fes el Bali is the oldest walled part of Fez, the second largest city of Morocco. Fes el Bali was founded as the capital of the Idrisid dynasty between 789 and 808 AD. UNESCO listed Fes el Bali, along with Fes Jdid, as a World Heritage Site in 1981 under the name Medina of Fez. The World Heritage Site includes Fes el Bali's urban fabric and walls as well as a buffer zone outside of the walls that is intended to preserve the visual integrity of the location. Fes el Bali is, along with Fes Jdid and the French-created Ville Nouvelle or “New Town”, one of the three main districts in Fez.
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Fez or Fes is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 million, according to the 2014 census. Located to the northwest of the Atlas Mountains, it is surrounded by hills and the old city is centered around the Fez River flowing from west to east. Fez has been called the "Mecca of the West" and the "Athens of Africa". It is also considered the spiritual and cultural capital of Morocco.
Bab Bou Jeloud is an ornate city gate in Fes el Bali, the old city of Fez, Morocco. The current gate was built by the French colonial administration in 1913 to serve as the grand entrance to the old city.
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The Fortifications of Fez comprise a complex circuit of ramparts and gates surrounding Fes el-Bali and Fes el-Jdid, two urban agglomerations that compose the old "medina" of Fes, Morocco. They also include a number of kasbahs (citadels) and forts which were built both to protect and to control the city. These fortifications have been built up over many centuries and the extensive remnants today date from many different periods.
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Bab Oudaya, also known as Bab Lakbir or Bab al-Kabir, is the monumental gate of the Kasbah of the Udayas in Rabat, Morocco. The gate, built in the late 12th century, is located at the northwest corner of the Kasbah, uphill from the medina of Rabat. It is often cited as one of the most beautiful gates of Almohad and Moroccan architecture.
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Place Bou Jeloud, also known as Place Pacha el-Baghdadi, is a large public square in Fes, Morocco, located west of Bab Bou Jeloud gate.
Bab Mahrouk, also spelled Bab Mahruq, is historically the main western city gate of Fes el Bali, the old walled city of Fes, Morocco. The gate dates from 1204 and is located on the northwestern corner of Place Bou Jeloud, near the edge of Kasbah an-Nouar. It was historically the approximate starting point of the old city's main street, Tala'a Kebira.
The Bou Jeloud Mosque is a historic Almohad-era mosque in the former Kasbah of Bou Jeloud, located near Bab Bou Jeloud, in Fes, Morocco.
The Walls of Marrakesh are a set of defensive ramparts which enclose the historic medina districts of Marrakesh, Morocco. They were first laid out in the early 12th century by the Almoravid dynasty which founded the city in 1070 CE as their new capital. The walls have since been expanded several times by the addition of the Kasbah to the south at the end of the 12th century and by a later extension to encompass the northern neighbourhood around the Zawiya of Sidi Bel Abbes.
The Kasbah of Moulay Ismail is a vast palace complex and royal kasbah (citadel) built by the Moroccan sultan Moulay Isma'il ibn Sharif in Meknes, Morocco. It is also known, among other names, as the Imperial City or Palaceof Moulay Ismail, or the Kasbah of Meknes. It was built by Moulay Isma'il over the many decades of his reign between 1672 and 1727, when he made Meknes the capital of Morocco, and received occasional additions under later sultans.
The History of Fez begins with its foundation by Idris I and Idris II at the end of the 8th century and the beginning of the 9th century CE. It initially consisted of two autonomous and competing settlements on opposing shores of what is now known as the Oued Fes. Initially inhabited by a largely Berber (Amazigh) population, successive waves of mainly Arab immigrants from Ifriqiya (Tunisia) and al-Andalus (Spain/Portugal) over time gave the nascent city an Arab character as well. After the downfall of the Idrisid dynasty, it was contested between different Zenata groups allied with either the Fatimid Caliphate or the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba. In the 11th century the Almoravid sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin conquered the region and united its two settlements into what is today the Fes el-Bali quarter. Under the rule of the Almoravids and of the Almohads after them, despite losing the status of capital to Marrakesh, the city remained the economic and political center of northern Morocco and gained a reputation for religious scholarship and mercantile activity.
