Bab Rouah

Bab Rouah, the gate of the winds, was built around 1197 under Yaqub al-Mansur as part of the Almohad walls of Rabat, and along with Bab Oudaia it is one of the two great ceremonial gates of that period - stone rather than earth, with a horseshoe arch inside a rectangular frame, and the surface between them carved in shallow relief with interlacing bands, palmettes and shell forms of a kind that has been called Almohad at its most confident. It was not principally defensive; the passage inside turns at right angles twice, which is defensive, but the outward face is display. Since the 1980s the interior halls have been used as a municipal art gallery, so the gate can be walked into and the vaults seen from within when an exhibition is on, which is more often than not. The Almohad wall runs south from it towards Chellah.

History

The Almohad caliph Yaqub al-Mansur built the gate in the late 12th century as part of the monumental capital he began at Rabat, and the gate and its walls were finished by 1197; its name, gate of the winds, probably comes from the strong Atlantic winds that strike the city. Its archway was partly filled in with smaller stones under the Alaouite sultan Sidi Muhammad ibn Abdallah in the second half of the 18th century, as he did at Bab Agnaou in Marrakesh, and the interior, renovated in 2000-2001, is now an art gallery (Wikipedia, Bab er-Rouah).

What you'll find

• Carved Almohad stone - interlacing bands, palmettes and shell forms in shallow relief.
• A bent entrance - the passage turning twice inside, behind a display facade.
• An art gallery - the interior halls used for exhibitions since the 1980s.
• The wall running south - the Almohad circuit continuing towards Chellah.

When to go

October to April. An hour, when an exhibition is on.

Things to know

The interior opens only for exhibitions, which are not continuous. It stands on a busy road junction with traffic on all sides. There is little interpretation of the gate itself. Carving is weathered.

Nearby

Chellah is south along the wall; the medina is north-east.

Key facts