Souiqa Street

Souiqa Street
1- Jamaâ al-Kabir 2- Site including the mosque and a madrasa 3- Bab Challah Library 4- Jamaâ moulay Sliman 5- Central Market

1- Jamaâ al-Kabir

Jamaâ al-Kabir, the Great Mosque, sometimes called jamaâ al-Kharrazine (mosque of the Shoemarkers) because of its location within Sebbat (the shoe market), was built under the marinid dynasty in the 14th century.

2- Site including the mosque and a madrasa

It was most likely part of a bigger site including the mosque, a madrasa (Islamic religious school) and a saqayya (wall fountain) at its center. The latter was demolished in the 1960s and the only remaining piece is a remarkable carved stone pediment more than 9m long and visible over the bab Challah street bookshop window.

3- Bab Challah Library

A Little futher down, the Bab Challah Library, created in 1933 by the services of Habous, is rich in modern and multilingual works. Restored and refubished between 1999 and 2022, it now specializes in the History of Morocco.

4- Jamaâ moulay Sliman

Jamaâ moulay Sliman is located at the angle of the street Souiqa and the street Bouiba. Reconstructed in the very beginning of the 19th century on the site of an ancient mosque, this mosque, named after the Alawi sultan mulay Sliman (1797-1822) has a square-shaped minaret of 5.10m wid and 26m high, measures that are reminiscent of the 12th-century Almohad canons of construction.

5- Central Market

The Central Market of Rabat is a neo-traditional moroccan market that was built in the 1920s. It has five gates and its construction required the destruction of a part of the Andalusian wall between bab El-Had and the steet Lagza which opened the madina onto the New town of Rabat.

GPS Point

This important axis of the madina connects bab al-Bahr (Sea Gate), point of arrival and departure for travelers on the river to bab El-Had (Sunday Gate) and has always been a shopping street.
The street can be divided into four major parts.The central part of the street, called Souiqa (small market), was formerly reserved for food, and even if its shops are more mixed tday, it is still a place for sellers of spices and herbs. The only covered part of the street is called souq Sabbat of spices and herbs . The only covered part of the steet is called souq Sabbat and has been used since the andalusian period by sellers of slippers, shoes, and other clodhoppers. The west extremity of the Souiqa is adjacent to the Almohad wall and bab El Had and was in the past the privileged location of the sammarin (blacksmiths), whose practice has disappeared with the invention of the automobile. Finally, the part called Dabbaghin (Tanners), provides access from bab al-Bahr to place Rahbba through paved staircases. The latter was the point of encounter of jewelers, salt, butter and honey sellers. It was also home to many restaurants since the 17th century.
The street Souiqa is connected to major perpendicular axes that cross the madina from North to South : the streets of the Consuls, sidi Fateh and Lagzah streets.

general plan

This important axis of the madina connects bab al-Bahr (Sea Gate), point of arrival and departure for travelers on the river to bab El-Had (Sunday Gate) and has always been a shopping street.
The street can be divided into four major parts.The central part of the street, called Souiqa (small market), was formerly reserved for food, and even if its shops are more mixed tday, it is still a place for sellers of spices and herbs. The only covered part of the street is called souq Sabbat of spices and herbs . The only covered part of the steet is called souq Sabbat and has been used since the andalusian period by sellers of slippers, shoes, and other clodhoppers. The west extremity of the Souiqa is adjacent to the Almohad wall and bab El Had and was in the past the privileged location of the sammarin (blacksmiths), whose practice has disappeared with the invention of the automobile. Finally, the part called Dabbaghin (Tanners), provides access from bab al-Bahr to place Rahbba through paved staircases. The latter was the point of encounter of jewelers, salt, butter and honey sellers. It was also home to many restaurants since the 17th century.
The street Souiqa is connected to major perpendicular axes that cross the madina from North to South : the streets of the Consuls, sidi Fateh and Lagzah streets.

general plan