In recent years, Chellah has seen popular festivals such as Mawazine and Jazz in Chellah. The site, Registered on the UNESCO World Heritage Listis an ancient city and merinid necropolis which is located at the mouth of Bouregreg, two kilometers from the city center of Rabat. It is erected like a fortress that the surrounding dwellings do not distort. The place is steeped in history since several dynasties have succeeded.
Upon arrival, a majestic door is essential. It inspires power and belligerent and stirs up the curiosity of local tourists and onlookers. Once the door has been crossed, it is a haven of peace of ten hectares that opens to visitors. Flower vegetation that smells good of spring embeds their smell. The view is sublime, since far we can see the bouregreg which separates Rabat de Salé.
Many cats bask in the sun, while storks have established their nest there. An air of romance floats in the air. And for good reason, many couples come to spend romantic moments in Chellah, rocked by the peaceful atmosphere of the place.
View of a game of Chellah. / PH. Chellah Voyages
Ancient city, then merinid necropolis
Sometimes named “Sala” by the Greek geographer Ptolemy, sometimes “Sala Colonia” by the Roman emperor Antonin the pious, Chellah has vestiges of a Roman city. The archaeological excavations undertaken on the site revealed that an important agglomeration had lived on the scene. “It is archaeological vestiges of the ancient city which was founded in the Mauritanian era (2nd century before JC) then developed in Roman times (of the 1st century AD)”, recalls the archaeologist Mohamed Kbiri Alaoui in a report broadcast on Medi 1 TV.
The Roman remains of the Chellah site. / PH. DR
During the Islamic period, several dynasties followed one another in Chellah. After the Idrissides, it was Moussa Ibn Abi Affia who seized it in 929, then the Maghraouids in 993. The Ifrenids made their capital from Chellah at the beginning of the 11th century. Then begins the golden age of the city – at the time a large metropolis – until the arrival of the Almoravids.
However, Chellah was abandoned until 1154. Abu Al Hassan, a flagship sultan of the Merinid dynasty, then decided to make a necropolis. The work was completed in 1339, hence the inscription in coufic writing on the front door which testifies to this date.
“I believe that the merinids wanted to give this fortress aspect to return an image of a fighter,” says Mohamed Kbiri Alaoui. Sultan Abu El Hassan has his grave there: “His body was buried in Marrakech, then transferred to Chellah under the order of his son Ibn Inan”, adds the archaeologist.
At that time, “Sala Colonia” swarmed with mausoleums in addition to archaeological vestiges. “In the 1950s, some visitors to the site removed their shoes before going through the Sidi Yahya door (main door, editor’s note) out of respect for the different buried kings and princes, these marabouts who have a lot of Baraka,” said the specialist.
