Arsenal of Salé

The Arsenal, unique of its kind in Morocco, is the oldest known Marinide monument. Located at the south-west corner of the Medina, it underwent further development during the era of the Alaouite Sultan Mawlây Slimane (r. 1792-1822) to establish the mellah (Jewish quarter). It formed a homogenous compound, which was part of the city of Salé’s defence programme, implemented by the Marinide Sultan Abû Yûsuf Ya‘kûb between 1260 and 1270, following the spectacular taking of the city by the Castilians. Ibn Khaldûn teaches that Ya‘kûb ibn ‘Abd Allâh, the governor of Rabat-Salé who was hostile towards the new Sultan Abû Yûsuf Ya‘kûb, was betrayed by Spanish merchants who were supposed to supply him with arms. They took advantage of the end-of-fasting festivities to seize the city and wreck it. It took the Sultan fourteen days of siege to free the city. Ibn Abî Zar', al-Jaznâ'î and Ibn Khaldûn agree on a cause-and-effect relationship between this event, the construction of the arsenal, and the fortification of the Salé water front. This compound defended the city and its commercial port, which was one of the most important of its time. It was also used as a base for armed ships leaving for al-Andalus.

Although the interior organisation of the arsenal is unknown to us, due to the construction of the mellah in the area it occupied, the two gates that provided access to it, Bâb al-Mrîsa and Bâb Bû Hâja, have been preserved. The first entrance is via a huge pointed horseshoe arch, framed with a decorative band, consisting of a double arabesque, with single and forked palm leaves, bearing an inscription in Kufic. The gate is flanked by two tall towers, an exceptional feature for a Moroccan medieval gate. It leads to small barrel-vaulted rooms. On the wall-walk that circles the enclosure, a staircase lit on three sides leads to small rooms with domes on pendentives. These rooms have three arrow slots, the first protects the walls, the second protects the immediate surroundings of the gate, and the third, with its slanting floor, protects a canal linking the Oued Bouregreg to the inside of the arsenal (the inside gate). A final opening, located on the landing, and overlooking the inside of the gate, was probably used to stop enemy vessels from entering. The second gate opens onto the west side of the city’s enclosure. Only its façade wall, flanked by two towers remains. Two defence chambers, with two arrow loops, are located at the summit of the arch,  on account of its fragile position opposite the Oued Bouregreg. An analysis of the equipment reveals the rapidity with which the works were carried out, and the careful economy that the builders exercised. The size of the stone, the joints, and the façade of the Bâb Bû Hâja all bear witness to this.

The construction of the Salé Arsenal coincided with the search for legitimacy of the new Marinide power. Alphonso X of Castile’s taking of Salé in 1260 was the prelude to the unification of North Morocco around the Marinides, to re-launch the armed struggle in al-Andalus. Its imposing architecture is a propaganda tool in support of this battle, and the new power. Bâb al-Mrîsa is a veritable “triumphal arch”, and part of the continuity of their Almohad predecessors.