Rabat Streets
Trip Start
Mar 30, 2009
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8
10
Trip End
Ongoing
Rabat, Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaër, Morocco
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Rabat was Morocco's capitol in the 16th century, but was destroyed by the Portuguese for bad manners. It was selected again as the capitol city by Yaqub al-Mansur, the Andalusian pirate sultan, after Muslims were booted out of Spain in 1609. He established the Bou Regreg Republic and managed to sustain an economy based on piracy and slave trade that lasted until 1829 when Austria finally had it with that nonsense and bombed the city from ships at sea.
Rabat was again designated capitol by the French in 1912, moved from Fez because it was easier to supply and defend on the coast than was Fez in the mountains of the Berbers
From my Blacony, looking South
. France lusted after Morocco for decades, trying to find the right excuse, finally trumped up enough debt and confusion to declare Morocco a "protectorate" in a deal that had the blessing of Spain, Germany, US, and Britain, if not Algeria which was already under the French thumb. So began France’s equivocal and contentious 44 year development program, centered on Rabat which was shaped by a dose of French city planning. This is the Rabat that exists today. It is remarkable how similar the planning strategy was to Dalian, China, redesigned by French architects at almost exactly the same time – 1905-1956. Dalian had no substantial history, compared to Rabat with centuries of the medina, Kasbah, Chellah and Tour Hassan, but the traffic circles, boulevards, government presence, architecture, markets, and sidewalk prominence are clear in both cities.
The Rabat streets maneuver around the history, and because France needed to hang on to the Sultan for political reasons, at least at first, they installed him in a Palais Royal in Rabat where they could keep their eye on him. The city surrounds that property, and the Royal family has managed to expand their prominence here with compounds for the prince and princess, royal stables, golf course, polo grounds, and parks
Medina 1
. The public is generally not allowed, though a couple of the parks are open as the king wishes.The sidewalks in many locations are gracious, interesting and lively, and in other places, it’s no mistaking the Third World. Moroccans like to stroll in the evenings. Streets such as Mouhammed V (The king’s much admired grandfather) and Hassan II (The king’s much detested father) teem with the full spectrum of the city. 5 star hotels and bamboo hovels front on the main streets as the city’s taxis honk and ply their trade. Donkey carts are not uncommon, though motor traffic rules. Biking is an adventure. Generally traffic is consistent, not orderly, with the left side going one way, right side going the other, green means go and red means look both ways.
Neighborhoods in Rabat take on the centuries. The Kasbah houses about 3000 people in a 12th century compound. The medina with its market stalls includes a few thousand apartments within the 17th century city walls. Downtown where the major hotels, mosques, palace, embassies and government are located is a 20th century city and Hay Riad, a bit further out, is a 21st century collection of malls, high rise apartments and garages. I live in Agdal, built in the mid 20th century as the French were winding down, a comfortable balance of Rabat’s character next to the Palace, with European shops and markets, parks, boulevards, walking distance to the beach, embassy, and train station.
