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Description
Location: Sale / Rabat Morocco

The Madrasa of Abu al-Hasan

The Madrasa is a UNESCO heritage site and lies in the city of Sale which is North of the Estuary that divides the City of Rabat from Sale. I had read about it but it seemed to lie well off the tourist trail. Even my driver who is a local to the Area didn't know about it. I did know that it lay within the old Medina (The Old Walled City) Its practically impossible to drive in the narrow maze of streets of the old Medina. We Parked the car outside the Medina walls and eventually after asking numerous inhabitants of the Medina, we found this magnificent Madrassa.

The Medina is laid back and the inhabitants friendly, apparently the scourge of tourism hasn't affected them. It was .. I shudder to use the term "Authentic" stroll back in time and a most memorable experience. The cherry on the cake, being that we had the Madrassa exclusively to ourselves, to wander and wonder in and to imbibe the almost spiritual ambience, deeply.

According to an inscription on the wooden canopy of the entrance portal, construction of the madrasa began in 1332–1333 on the orders of the Marinid sultan Abu al-Hasan (r. 1331–1348), who was also responsible for founding multiple other madrasas and religious complexes in his reign. Construction was finished in 1341–1342, as recorded by a foundation inscription carved on a marble plaque in the northwestern gallery of the courtyard. The madrasa was built to help further develop the nearby Great Mosque of Salé as the focus of religious and intellectual life in the city.

Description
Location: Sale / Rabat Morocco

The Madrasa of Abu al-Hasan

The Madrasa is a UNESCO heritage site and lies in the city of Sale which is North of the Estuary that divides the City of Rabat from Sale. I had read about it but it seemed to lie well off the tourist trail. Even my driver who is a local to the Area didn't know about it. I did know that it lay within the old Medina (The Old Walled City) Its practically impossible to drive in the narrow maze of streets of the old Medina. We Parked the car outside the Medina walls and eventually after asking numerous inhabitants of the Medina, we found this magnificent Madrassa.

The Medina is laid back and the inhabitants friendly, apparently the scourge of tourism hasn't affected them. It was .. I shudder to use the term "Authentic" stroll back in time and a most memorable experience. The cherry on the cake, being that we had the Madrassa exclusively to ourselves, to wander and wonder in and to imbibe the almost spiritual ambience, deeply.

According to an inscription on the wooden canopy of the entrance portal, construction of the madrasa began in 1332–1333 on the orders of the Marinid sultan Abu al-Hasan (r. 1331–1348), who was also responsible for founding multiple other madrasas and religious complexes in his reign. Construction was finished in 1341–1342, as recorded by a foundation inscription carved on a marble plaque in the northwestern gallery of the courtyard. The madrasa was built to help further develop the nearby Great Mosque of Salé as the focus of religious and intellectual life in the city.