EL MANSOUR PALACE

Located south of the Ismaili Kasba, known as the imperial city, near the stables of Moulay Ismail, called Rwa. Built towards the end of the reign of Sultan Moulay Ismail, Al Mansour Palace is also called after the name of the one who supervised the works. It is a block-shaped building. The palace has an exceptional character: it combines with its functions of watchtower and bastion, that of an armament depot and a grain reservoir on the ground floor, and of a princely residence on the upper floor. Historical evidence and archaeological studies highlight the utilitarian and subordinate functions of the lower floor, while the upper floor appears to have distinctly noble functions. The Al Mansour Palace remains the only one in Morocco that combines, in the same building, a royal palace and an attic store. It main distinction is stressed by the successful combination of a pre-Saharian type of Moroccan architecture with another Portuguese style. This fact gives it a multicultural dimension which gives a special place to an already majestic monument both in dimensions and style.