The old doors of Morocco. Historical evidence resists the effects of the earthquake

Marrakesh - The visitor does not enter the old cities of Morocco, without entering through their historical doors, whether in the cities of Rabat, Fez or Marrakech, cities that still retain their walls, gates and ancient and beautiful architecture.

However, the recent earthquake that struck Morocco made a number of researchers and archaeologists bemoan what happened to ancient historical monuments in earthquake areas such as the cities of central Morocco such as Marrakesh, Taroudant, Ouarzazate and the province of El Haouz, which exposed some walls, doors and monuments to cracking.

The magnitude of the earthquake in the province of El Haouz reached 7 degrees on the Richter scale, according to the National Institute of Geophysics in Rabat, and is the deadliest earthquake to hit Morocco in more than a century.

Antique doors and earthquake

Jamal Abou El Hoda, governor of historic buildings at the Regional Directorate of Culture in Marrakech, explained that the epicenter of the earthquake was the Egil area adjacent to the city of Marrakech, pointing to the cracks and destruction it left in many historical monuments such as the Bahia Palace, the Saadian tombs, the Menzah, the Katiba silo and Bab Kanwaat, while the historical Tamnel Mosque was considered the most affected.

For his part, Abdellatif Qusour, a researcher in the history of Morocco, says that architecturally, it is not possible to talk about ancient Moroccan cities without stopping at their engineering characteristics, in which the walls surrounding the old neighborhoods are a major component.

He adds – to Al Jazeera Net – that along these walls, there are doors that vary in size, names and historical status as well as their heritage value that continues to this day, in cities such as Meknes, Rabat, Marrakech, Tetouan, Essaouira and Fez.

The gate of the ancient Medina of Fez (Shutterstock)

Abdelati Helou, a research professor at the National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage in Rabat, said the Moroccan city was surrounded by walls, towers and defensive elements, with entrances and doors bearing certain names and in specific directions.

He adds to Al Jazeera Net, "We find doors in Moroccan cities bearing the names of days such as Thursday door, and some doors were held outside the markets to receive goods from the nearby desert, and there are doors bearing the names of the parties or indicate the road towards a city concerned. For example the Bab Ceuta and the Bab Fez ".

Doors roles

Historically, the doors in Morocco's old cities have been of great importance and have played multiple roles during different eras, according to Abdellatif Kassour, as they were a key component of the military defense strategies of the city and its inhabitants.

The janitors, who are the employees responsible for these doors, used to guard at night, and they also used balconies and towers to carry out their military and security duties due to their height, and the doors also performed an economic and commercial function, the same spokesman said.

Bab al-Mansour gate in Place de Hadim in Meknes, Morocco (Shutterstock)

Abdel Ati Lahlou believes that these historical doors played major roles in guarding and in controlling entry and exit, whether people or goods, pointing out that each door has a specific function according to the area to which it leads and according to the goods and commercial popularity in which it is.

He pointed to the importance of some gates of Marrakesh, such as Bab al-Rob, where Sharia control was imposed for the entry of some materials that can be fermented, such as grape juice and raisins, as it is an Islamic city where the circulation or sale of alcohol is prohibited.

Features of architecture in doors

Architecture in Morocco is an indication of the multiplicity of cultural tributaries in the Kingdom, whether Amazigh, Arab, or Andalusian, as well as the legacy of ancient invaders such as the Romans, and other colonial countries such as Portugal, Spain and France as modern architectural tributaries.

The displacement of many Andalusian families – following the fall of the Emirate of Granada in 1492 and their settlement in cities such as Tetouan, Rabat and Salé – had clear effects on the change in the ways of building and engineering the gates of cities in Morocco, and one of the manifestations of this change is the emergence of an arched opening resting on two columns, each surmounted by a carved stone crown, as it surrounded the door arch and is topped with smooth protrusions.

The gate of the ancient city of Salé, Morocco (Sharstock)

Abdelati Helou explains that most of the doors in Morocco are built with compacted earth and earthy architecture, such as the Sidi Abdel Wahab and Gharbi doors in Oujda, and other doors in Meknes.

Other doors built of manjur stone, such as the Almohad doors, include Bab Rawah, Bab Za'ir and the Great Oudaya in Rabat, all of which are built of stone, while the doors in Marrakech are built with carved stone, he says.

There are other doors of the Alawite, Marini, and Saadi character, which are characterized by many decorations, mosaics, writings, inscriptions and edges decorated on the sides, such as the "Mansour Laj Gate", in which marble and zellige are found, and which contains writings that made it one of the most beautiful doors in Morocco.

Exploits and doors after the earthquake

Heritage and history researcher Jamal Al-Baqaa points to the emergence of large cracks at the level of the historical wall of the city of Marrakesh, which dates back to the Almoravid period, as well as the almost total destruction of the Almohad Taminal Mosque in the "Talat Niacoub" area in the province of Al-Haouz, which is one of the oldest architectural landmarks dating to the Almohad period in Morocco.

"We also record the province of Taroudant damaged the great wall of the city built by the Saadians, where many cracks were observed on several levels of it, and in Agadir damaged a few parts of the historical Kasbah, known as Agadir Oufella," he said.

Specialized committees are diagnosing the conditions of landmarks and sites that have been damaged, he said, "and everyone is working on proposing projects to restore them and reuse them again".

In the same context, Abdellatif Kassour said that the walls of the historic city of Taroudant were destroyed by the earthquake, which affected some of its historical gates such as Bab Khamis, in addition to damaging many historical facilities such as palaces and ecodar.

As for the red city of Marrakesh, which was built since the 12th century AD by the Almoravid state, and is about 40 kilometers from the epicenter of the earthquake in El Haouz, many of its exploits were damaged by the earthquake, such as the structure of the historic Koutoubia Mosque.

Marrakech's historic defensive walls, which wrap around the city with a length of 19 kilometres, were also damaged in some parts of Marrakech, which include 20 doors and about 100 towers, a number of which were damaged, such as Bab al-Dabbagh.

The famous Lefna Mosque Square was damaged, as the collapse of the Kharboush mosque silo was recorded, according to Abdellatif Kassour.

Morocco hastened to allocate a total budget of 120 billion dirhams (about 12 billion dollars) over 5 years, with the aim of reconstructing the areas affected by the earthquake, part of which will go to the restoration and repair of total or partial damage caused to some historical monuments, in order to continue to reflect its important role in highlighting the richness and nobility of Moroccan architectural culture, as well as reviving tourism activity in the affected areas.