About Rabat
Rabat (in Arabic: الرباط [ar-Ribat]) is the capital of Morocco and the second largest urban area in the country after Casablanca.
Rabat (in Arabic: الرباط [ar-Ribat]) is the capital of Morocco and the second largest urban area in the country after Casablanca.
It is located on the Atlantic coast, on the left bank of the Bouregreg estuary, opposite the city of Salé. As a result, the two are sometimes referred to as "twin cities".
The city was founded in 1150 by the Almohads, who built a citadel there (which became the Kasbah of the Udayas), a mosque, and a residence. It was then what is known as a ribat (a fortress). The current name comes from Ribat Al Fath, "the Camp of Victory". Later, the grandson of Al-Mūmin – Ya'qub al-Mansūr – expanded and completed the city, notably surrounding it with walls. Subsequently, it served as a base for Almohad expeditions into Andalusia.
After 1269, when the Marinids chose Fès as their capital, Rabat entered a period of decline. Thus, the Moorish explorer Hassan al-Wazzan reported that only 100 inhabited houses remained there in 1515. In 1609, following the expulsion decree of Philip III, 13,000 Moriscos found refuge there, revitalising the city.
