 |
| Rooftop café off Place Hedim |
Meknes is an old, royal city immediately east of Fes. As a
Moroccan city, it seems pretty much on par with the more touristy (Marrakesh
and Fes), except without the tourists.
 |
| Medina street |
The lack of tourists is a mixed bag of benefits and
disadvantages. Touristy cities tend to be tourist friendly—more fixed prices,
more lodging options, more English, more maps, more signs, etc. They also have
more individuals who seem to derive their livelihood through persecuting travelers,
besides a somewhat inauthentic atmosphere.
 |
| Stables |
Meknes lacked all these things. It didn’t lack flies. It
didn’t lack garbage. But its relative peace made many amends.
Beside the Roman city of Volubilis only a few miles away,
Meknes boasts the Augean Stables (at least they’re big enough to be), royal
tombs, palaces, an authentic souk, a pleasant modern city, and a medina.
The tombs were impressive, but my favorite attraction, other
than Volubilis, was the stables.
 |
| Sunset over Meknes |
To say that I’ve never seen such stables, is, well, not to
say much; yet I say it anyway. Not even the underground stables carved out of
solid rock that I saw in Cappadocia can compare. I’ve attached a few pictures,
because, while I’d like to include a sketch, I haven’ maintained my
middle-school art skills. In a way, there wasn’t much to see, except the curiosity
of it all—a nice change from normal humdrum of historical sites.
No comments:
Post a Comment