The Alaouites: from Meknes to the ports
The seventeenth century opens a new chapter in power and urban life. Begin with Ismailian Meknes, then move to eighteenth-century Essaouira to follow changing relationships between capital, port and exchange networks.
A photograph of a place surviving today, not a reconstruction of the period.
Two cities, two moments
The Metropolitan Museum places the rise of Alaouite rule after the Saadian period in the seventeenth century. UNESCO’s Meknes record highlights Moulay Ismail’s imperial capital.
Bab Mansour provides a visual entrance, but the route does not end there. Stores, passages and gardens extend the reading towards the needs of continuity and daily life alongside the symbolism of major façades.
Eighteenth-century Essaouira offers another example, with port development under Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah. Moving from Meknes to Essaouira reveals how an urban project differs when oceanic commercial connections become central.
Two cities cannot summarise centuries, but they offer a clear reading route. Next comes the protectorate period, bringing new forms of control, planning and resistance into urban history.
Story sources: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · UNESCOStory sources
Sources reviewed:
- The Maghrib, 1600–1800The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Historic City of MeknesUNESCO
- Medina of EssaouiraUNESCO
