Hassan Tower: A Look At Morocco's Architecture
The Hassan Tower, Cultural heritage of Rapat:
The Hassan Tower should have been, at the time, one of the largest mosques in Morocco and around the world, it represents the symbol of ancient dynasties and a cultural heritage of UNESCO. However, this mosque has never been a place of worship and we ignore many things about this gigantic work: its name, its origin, the architect ...
Built with red stones and characterized by an architectural style of palaces and religious buildings in Morocco, the Hassan Tower does not include stairs typical of minarets but rather access ramps allowing the muezzin to reach the top at horse for the call to prayer.
The Hassan Tower, an unfinished mosque:
The Hassan Tower is a remarkable building, the most famous in Rabat, Morocco. Sultan Yacoub El Mansour planned to create the largest mosque in the Muslim world. The construction of the monument was abandoned when the Sultan died in 1199. The tower, which was to rise to sixty meters in height, simply reached forty four meters. The minaret was to accommodate up to 44,000 people. His style is a work of art from traditional Moroccan architecture. This mosque was to become the most prodigious, but it was never a place of worship.
When you arrive to visit the Hassan Tower, you find yourself on a large square of gray stones, with multiple aligned white columns, which form like alleys, and you can see the Tower on the side. It looks like a rectangular building. The Sultan's successors did not bother to continue the work, and it remained in the state of an unfinished mosque. The Tower eventually deteriorated and was pillaged. In front of the Hassan Tower was the oratory. There are currently some remains of the marble colonnades. The oratory included eighteen spaces, three hundred and twelve pilasters, and forty-four columns. The mosque had fourteen doors.
On each side of the Hassan Tower, you will notice that the ornaments are different from each other. It is built in red stone which gives it a very representative aspect of the religious buildings of Morocco. Inside the Hassan Tower, there are no stairs, but simply access ramps, so that the person responsible for launching the call, called the muezzin, can reach the top of the tower on horseback. , to invite the faithful to prayer. We can see some ruins of the mosque, its unfinished walls, and about two hundred columns, which were to support the roof of the monument. These columns were partially devastated by the earthquake, which hit the city in 1755.
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| The Hassan tower |
The Hassan Tower has been upgraded because it was chosen to build the Mausoleum Mohamed V. Rabat has therefore regained all its pride, and the Tower has become the symbolic representation of Rabat. The Mausoleum was built at the foot of the Hassan Tower, and rest there, King Mohamed V, his son Hassan II and his son Moulay Abdellah. This choice was very important for Moroccans, and their attachment to this monument is highly emblematic.
In Rabat, there is another Hassan Tower, but it has nothing to do with the historic monument. This is a luxury hotel which is located near the minaret. It was built in 1914. It is a charming hotel where you can rest in rooms bearing names worthy of the palaces of the Arabian Nights. The Hassan Tower will offer you a moment of relaxation in its swimming pool located outside the hotel. It is equipped with a fitness center, a sauna, a fitness club, a spa and a swimming pool which is specially designed for children.
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