[Dec. 2025] Leaving the blue city of Chefchaouen in Morocco, we headed to the ancient city of Meknes.
I had also visited here 30 years ago.
I had such a good impression of it then that I asked to include it in our itinerary, but the agent seemed rather reluctant, which I found strange.
After researching, I learned that the minaret collapsed in 2010, killing many people.
Perhaps that was one reason why this town is not very touristy.
Furthermore, while other cities have focused on attracting tourists for some years, Meknes seems to have missed out on that trend.
Perhaps trying to make up for it, when we visited this time, restoration work was underway everywhere.
My old memories of the city include a maze of yellow walls that created a mystical and beautiful atmosphere, but it seems that area was also under construction.
Therefore, there wasn’t much to see, which is probably why the agent hesitated.
This time, in addition to this drawback, my husband was feeling very unwell.
He apparently got food poisoning from something like a fried donut he ate for breakfast, and was feeling sick and having chills.
As a result, he couldn’t walk around much when we arrived in town, and at the tourist restaurant we were taken to for lunch, he only had water and I had coffee.
He took his regular medication and rested in the car for a while, and gradually felt better.
Meanwhile, I got out at two points of interest that our driver, Youssuf, had taken us to, and walked around a bit on my own.
One of them was the Bab Mansour, a majestic gate from the early 18th century, and the other, I believe, was the exterior walls of Heri es Swani, a grain warehouse and stable from the same period.
We were only able to see the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, the most important tourist attraction, together.
Ismail ruled the country in the 17th and 18th centuries, establishing Meknes as its capital and building the city.
The mausoleum, which requires removing your shoes before entering, was paved with the same tiles we often saw in Andalusia, Spain.
Since we didn’t have a guide, we simply admired the opulent Islamic architecture and left.
We’ll have to revisit this town after the restoration work is complete.
From what we saw driving through, the town seems to have a strong presence with its surrounding city walls, and I would love to visit again someday and explore it on foot.
