The Almohad enclosure in the city of Rabat

The founding of the city of Ribat al-Fath goes back to the end of the twelfth century. Benefiting from a strategic position and numerous natural resources, the site was inhabited during prehistoric, Phoenician, and Roman times[1]. It was, however, during the Islamic period that the city became important. The Almoravids built a ribāt between 1142 and 1145 on the rocky outcrop of the Udayas, the name of a Saharan tribe[2]. In 1150, ‘Abd al-Mu’min[3], the Almohad king, transformed this simple ribāt into a fortress and built the Qasaba of the Udayas[4], which served as a departure point for the conquest of Andalusia. The ancient fort was adapted and became a princely residence and a military camp that served as a relay for conquest. As the struggle against the Christians intensified, the qasaba lacked the necessary space to accommodate the increasing numbers of soldiers. The caliph Ya‘qūb Al-Manṣūr (reigned 1184–1199), after a crushing victory at the battle of Alarcos, commissioned the construction of Ribat al-Fath in 1195 (the camp of conquest), which he intended to make the capital of the kingdom. But the project was too ambitious, and used up the treasure of the Almohads, who were obliged to abandon it. Nevertheless, the city was fortified and important monuments were erected[5]. It would appear that the Alexandrine model was repeated in the plan of Ribat al-Fath.

The 1195 fortifications extend from the west to the south[6]. Made of adobe and lime, it is punctuated by oblong towers and a perimeter walk protected by a parapet. It was constructed according to the Andalusian-Maghrebian style, and is pierced with five carefully equipped doors that are amongst the finest examples of Almohad architecture. These doors have entrances in chicane or bent ones and various vaults and domes lie over the doorways. The most important is Bāb Rawāh (departure door). Flanked by two projecting towers, its entry with four bends leads to four rooms that are connected by two domed vestibules. In medium-sized blocks of sandstone, it has rich monumental decorations. Kufic script envelops the arch and its voussoir composed of festooned, poly-lobed arches and interlaced geometrical motifs. The two spandrels are adorned with an intricate network of palmette floral motifs decorated with de coquilles in relief. A frieze standing on engaged columns with capitals supporting lobed brackets adorns the ensemble and enhances the facade.

Whether in terms of construction or decoration, Almohad art cleverly synthesized oriental and Andalusian influences. The general composition of the bays comes from that of the doors and the mihrab of Córdoba’s Great Mosque. The spandrel’s decorations, which are composed of floral motifs, especially of palm leaves and palmettes, show the influence of Andalusian art during the reign of the caliphs. These ornamentations appear to be derived from Classical palmettes. The interlacing lobed arches preceded by plain arches are reminiscent of the pre-Islamic oriental heritage. They can be seen in the Aljaferia at Zaragoza, at Tlemcen and Tenmel. The use of the round horseshoe arch, the favourite arch of the architects at the time, was continued in the Almoravid mosques and in those of the Almohad era at Tinmel and the Kutubīyah Mosque in Marrakech. The door arch springers are decorated with serpentine patterns, an innovation introduced by Almohad art, in which G. Marçais saw a resemblance to the ‘prothyride’ console of Vitruvius[7].

[2] A tribe that supplied part of the military contingent of the Alaouite dynasty. 

[3] The first caliph of the Almohad dynasty (1130-1163).

[4] Baptised al-Mahdiya in memory of the dynasty’s founder, al-Mahdī ibn-Tūmart.

[5] The most famous is without doubt Hasan’s great unfinished mosque, which, with its colossal dimensions and emblematic tower, represents a true masterpiece of Almohad religious architecture.

[6] The north-eastern flanks were naturally defended by the left bank of the Bou Regreg and by the Atlantic Ocean.

[7] Level corbel: corbel with scroll on the sides, named prothyride by Vitruvius, from the Greek thyrion, which means ‘door’, because it was used a door decoration.