| History & Patrimony |
| Tetouan, the medina |
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| The medina of Tetouan, the way it is today, is the result of a recasting and a fusion of various indigenous cultures, Ottoman, European and Andalusian. |
The medina of Tetouan which, in its urban face as in the architectural interpretation of its buildings, reflects a concept of religious and cultural tolerance among the deepest in Morocco, represents today a human cultural heritage which combines at the same time centuries of history and especially socio-economic structures and modes of organization of space which take their references in the traditional Islamic city of the Muslim occident and especially of Muslim Andalusia.
The medina of |
Tetouan extends on a surface of 123, 55 acres surrounded by a historical rampart of 5000m2. It is a complex urban space which reflects the complexity of life and its activities; at the same time military, religious and mystical city, commercial and finally diplomatic city at a certain time, this historical centre is characterized by the simplicity and the brittleness of its architectural heritage and its urban landscape, it is above all a site on a human scale, it is characterized especially by the treatment rather than by the volume of its monuments.
The medina of Tetouan is surrounded by a 5 km enclosure, its thickness is of 1.20 metre. The height from the base to the top varies between 7 and 5 meters depending on the topography of the places. The entry to the medina is carried out by the seven gates which bore this enclosure on all sides.
The construction of this enclosure was carried out on several stages between the XVth and the XVIIIth centuries.
Kasbah of Sidi Al-Mandri, it dominates the North-western angle of the primitive city. This site enabled it to control all the accesses starting from a watchtower which raises a bastion. The whole monuments that form the Kasbah called Kasbah of Sidi Al-Mandri were built in the end of the XVth century during the rebuilding of the medina of Tetouan. Made of a fortress, a mosque, a house and small Hamam. This Kasbah constituted, formerly, the siege of a political power a Ribat and a military fortress and also a place of habitat for the founder and his family. |
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