Marinid Madrasa of Sale

The madrasa was completed in 1341 under Abu al-Hasan, the Marinid sultan who also built the great colleges of Fes and Meknes, and it belongs to the same family of buildings: a small courtyard with a central basin, a prayer hall at one end, and two floors of tiny student cells behind carved cedar screens, with every surface between floor and ceiling worked in zellige, carved plaster and cedar. It is less visited than its Fes counterparts and consequently easier to be alone in. What it has that they do not is the roof: a stair leads up to a terrace over the cells, from which the great mosque next door, the medina roofs, the Bouregreg river, Rabat's kasbah opposite and the Atlantic are all visible at once, which makes the geography of the two cities clear in a way that nothing at ground level does. Restoration work has been intermittent.

History

An inscription on the wooden canopy of the entrance records that building began in 1332-1333 on the orders of Sultan Abu al-Hasan, and a marble plaque in the courtyard gallery records its completion in 1341-1342; the madrasa was meant to make the neighbouring Great Mosque the centre of religious and intellectual life in Salé (Wikipedia, Madrasa of Abu al-Hasan).

Highlights

• A 1341 Marinid college - the same programme as the great madrasas of Fes.
• Student cells - two floors of tiny rooms behind carved cedar screens.
• The roof terrace - the mosque, both cities, the river and the ocean in one view.
• Room to be alone - far fewer visitors than the equivalent buildings in Fes.

When to go

October to April; late afternoon on the roof. An hour.

Good to know

Stairs to the cells and the roof are narrow and steep with no rail in places. Restoration has been intermittent and sections may be closed. Entry is charged. The mosque next door cannot be entered by non-Muslims.

Nearby

The Sale medina surrounds it; Rabat is across the river.

Key facts