Bab el-Sebâa in Essaouira Morocco
Loading...
Authors
Issue Date
10/23/2023
Type
Image
Language
Keywords
Morocco , Essaouira , Medina , Bab el-Sebâa , Entrances , Gates , Lion Gate , Royal Gate , Cobblestones
Alternative Title
Abstract
Description
Outside view of Bab el-Sebâa, a southern entrance gate to the medina (the non-European part of a northern African city), showing ramparts on top of the walls. The kasbah zone of the medina was extended in the 19th century and new walls were built, requiring new gates. Bab el-Sebâa, or the Lion Gate or the Royal Gate, was built in 1866 by Houssein Gannoun El Fassi, during the reign of Sultan Mohammed Ben Abderrahman. It is in the Cherifian style: arched with square parapets, and covered in red plaster. Tourists obscure the view of the two cannons affixed to either side of the entrance at ground level. The foreground of the photo shows the detail of the circular pattern of cobblestones used as pavement, which continues inside the medina.