Heri es-Souani

Moulay Ismail's imperial city was designed to withstand a siege and to support a very large standing force, and Heri es-Souani is the logistics half of that: a grain store built with walls about four metres thick, small high openings and vaulted roofs, so that the interior stays cool and dry through a Meknes summer without any mechanism at all - the thermal mass does the work, and the principle is the same one used in traditional building across the region, applied here at enormous scale. Water was raised from a well by animals turning a wheel and distributed by channel. Behind it lies the largest of the granary halls, 182 by 104 metres and popularly but wrongly called the royal stables: twenty-two rows of thick arches, their vaults gone, running away further than you can see the end of. The scale of the ruin is the thing rather than any detail in it.

History

Moulay Isma'il became sultan in 1672 and made Meknes his capital, beginning his palace city at once. The name means "silo of the norias": the granaries were joined to the House of the Ten Norias, which raised water for the palaces, and the largest storehouse, 182 by 104 metres with 22 rows of arches, was built to hold supplies for a long siege (Wikipedia, Heri es-Swani).

What you'll find

• Four-metre walls - thermal mass keeping grain cool with no mechanism.
• Vaulted stores - high small openings and dark cool interiors.
• The great granary hall - 22 rows of arches, often mistaken for stables, now unroofed.
• A siege logistics system - built to supply a very large force indefinitely.

When to go

October to April; the interiors are a relief in any heat. An hour.

Things to know

The stables are a ruin with no interpretation and can read as simply empty. Entry is charged. It is a walk or a taxi from the medina and the imperial city is spread out. Summer heat outside the vaults is severe.

Nearby

The Agdal basin is beside it; the mausoleum of Moulay Ismail is north.

Key facts