El Hedim Square

I was walking back to the medina in the afternoon sun. I was thinking how impressive this Sultan Moulay Ismail is for having built all these structures in the area. The Royal Palace, the Royal Granary, the Royal Stables, a reservoir and even an underground prison to keep his defeated opponents and slaves. He was in power for a long time which gives him enough time to build all these. I thought it was a bit strange for the royal palace to have been built so far away from the medina. I would have imagined that the palace would have normally been inside the medina itself. Perhaps that is royalty being royalty. Why live near the plebeians when you can live in comfort and style outside all that.

I made it back to the medina of Meknès and head to their square called El Hedim Square. This was the square which is outside the Bab Mansour. This is the largest square in the city and it fills up with people as the afternoon drags on. Little did I know that the very square itself is a product of Sultan Moulay Ismail’s mind. He basically bulldozed his way through the medina and took half of it and turned it into the currect square. I’m pretty sure a lot of people would have been unhappy but if the sultan wants is, there is little the people can do. The El Hedim Square thus gives the royal city of Meknès its own city square making it a proper royal city.

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