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96-465: Born in Salé , Morocco in 1696, Chaim was the son of Rabbi Moshe Ben-Attar and the grandson of Rabbi Chaim Ben Attar (the elder) , whom he learnt with in his early years. When he was nine years old, his family fled to Meknes, Morocco , escaping the local antisemitic vizier . He soon married a relative of his, named Fatzunyah, whose father supported him, letting him study Torah without the burden of supporting

192-441: A muqarnas cornice above it. Most of the northeastern half of the complex is occupied by a building which scholars believe was most likely a madrasa, though two surviving inscriptions refer to it as a "zawiya". Similar to other madrasas of the era, it consists of an elongated rectangular courtyard with a rectangular pool at its center. At each end of the basin are two small circular basins with fountains that provided water for

288-405: A podium and surrounded on three sides by a portico of 32 columns. The parts of the temple that were built above the tabernae have collapsed. Roman inscriptions found on site confirm that the temple was built in the time of Hadrian and possibly inaugurated around 120 AD. Its construction was funded by a private citizen, a military official named C. Hosidius Severus, who gifted it to the people of

384-507: A zawiya (Sufi religious and educational center). The zawiya also became the object of a local pilgrimage, with locals believing that a visit here could be a substitute for the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca for those who couldn't afford that long journey. As part of their visit, pilgrims performed a circumambulation ( tawaf ) of the madrasa's mihrab . Popular legends also grew around the tombs. The tomb of Shams al-Ḍuḥa came to be popularly known as

480-484: A Roman colony, Sala Colonia , across the river on the south side of the Bou Regreg estuary. The local Banu Ifran apparently cultivated the legend that the city's name was derived from that of Salah, son of Ham , son of Noah . The Arab historians al-Bakri and Ibn Hawqal mention the existence of a town along the Bou Regreg at an early era, but they may have been referring to Chellah (former Sala Colonia) rather than

576-439: A central rectangular zone filled with sebka decoration above three blind polylobed arches with small colonettes . The negative spaces inside the sebka pattern are each carved with another motif including a shell or palmette , while the blind arches below are filled with arabesques (for the side arches) and with a repeating calligram in "knotted" Kufic (for the central arch). Above this runs another small blind arcade and

672-449: A dynastic necropolis for the Marinid dynasty . By the mid-14th century Marinid sultans had enclosed a part of the site with a new set of walls and built a religious complex inside it to accompany their mausoleums. In the 15th century the necropolis began to decline and it suffered damage over the centuries due to earthquakes and looting. Archeological excavations in the 20th century unearthed

768-401: A foliate arabesque motif featuring a carved shell at their centers. The whole composition is framed by a rectangular frieze (an alfiz ) containing a Kufic Arabic inscription that details the construction of the gate. The gate is flanked by two towers that have prismatic or semi-octagonal bases but are crowned with square turrets. The transition from the semi-octagonal body of the tower to

864-463: A household; he did not end up having any children with her, so he later would marry a second wife named Esther Bibas, with whom he had only daughters. He studied with them every Friday night the Torah portion of the week with explanations that was later written down and developed into his famed commentary 'Or ha-Hayyim al ha-Torah.' When his father-in-law died in 1724, his financial situation worsened, although

960-419: A local spring. Behind the qibla wall of the mosque, on its southeast side, is a rawda ( Arabic : الروضة ) or garden cemetery. It consists of a long enclosure with at least four ruined mausoleums and a number of other graves scattered across the open space. According to Basset and Lévi-Provençal, the three mausoleums adjoined to the back wall of the mosque include the tomb of Sultan Abu Sa'id (d. 1331) and

1056-421: A mosque, a madrasa, a cemetery with multiple mausoleums, and several courtyards. Its layout is irregular and complicated due to the addition of various elements over different periods. On its southwest side is a pool whose water comes from the spring of 'Ayn al-Janna ( Arabic : عين ألجنّا , lit.   'spring/source of paradise'). The pool was originally the latrines and ablutions facility of

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1152-424: A new campaign of excavations. Excavations continued on and off until 1996, unearthing the rest of the structures now visible. Today, the site of Chellah has been converted to a garden and tourist attraction. It is part of the metropolitan area of Rabat. The site, as part of historic Rabat, was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2012. It's also notable for hosting a large colony of storks , who nest in

1248-549: A new ribat at the mouth of the river. This ribat was in turn destroyed and then rebuilt by their successors, the Almohads , in the mid-12th century, becoming what is now known as the Kasbah of the Udayas . The Almohad caliph Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur (r. 1184–1199) also began construction of a vast new royal city with new walls on the site next to ancient Sala, corresponding to what is now

1344-470: A population of 890,403 in the 2014 Moroccan census . The city still preserves its historic medina (old town), with many major monuments dating from the Marinid period (13th–15th centuries). Salé is connected to Rabat by a tramway and also contains the Rabat–Salé Airport , the main international airport serving both cities. The Phoenicians established a settlement called Sala, later the site of

1440-413: A pre-Roman dating, based on the construction techniques present. On the west side of the forum is another wide paved space which may have been an additional forum ( forum adiectum ) or a part of the decumanus maximus . Boube dated it to the reigns of Trajan (r. 98–117) and Hadrian (r. 117–138). The largest structure here, on the northwest side, is the capitolium or capitoline temple. The temple

1536-726: A year after his arrival in Jerusalem, Chaim died; it was on a Shabbat . It is said that that week in Europe, the Baal Shem Tov was sitting at Seudah shlishit , and before anyone in the area could have found out about Chaim's death, he exclaimed, “The light from the West has been extinguished!” He is buried in the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery in Jerusalem, Israel. Sal%C3%A9 Salé ( Arabic : سلا , romanized :  salā , [salaː] )

1632-584: Is Bab el-Mrisa ('Gate of the Little Port'), a monumental gate on the southeast side of the city, dating to the 1270s. The religious center of the city is the Great Mosque , located in the western half of the medina. Next to the mosque is the Madrasa of Abu al-Hasan , a madrasa building dating to 1342, which is one of the architectural highlights of the city. A number of tombs and zawiyas are also located in

1728-489: Is a city in northwestern Morocco , on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat , for which it serves as a commuter town . Along with some smaller nearby towns, Rabat and Salé form together a single metropolitan area . Founded in the 11th century, it later became a haven for pirates in the 17th century as an independent republic before being incorporated into Alawi Morocco. It recorded

1824-409: Is a large octagonal opening, with niches set along its interior walls, that corresponds to an underground nymphaeum that once extended further up to the ground level of the building. Between the capitolium and the curia /basilica are the remains of a triumphal arch. Only the base of the arch remains and therefore not much is known for certain about it. It may date from the time of Hadrian, like

1920-482: Is a stone-carved entrance portal. Another landmark outside the city walls is the 14th-century aqueduct built by the Marinid sultan Abu al-Hasan to improve the city's water supply. A preserved section roughly 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) long can be found to the north of the medina, at one point straddling the modern road that leads north to Kenitra. In December 2017, AS Salé became Africa's basketball club Champion. It

2016-411: Is built on two levels and has a rectangular floor plan, measuring about 48 metres by 26 metres, with rounded corners on its west side. On the lower level were nine vaulted tabernae chambers which opened onto the paved area next to the temple and formed a part of the temple's substructure. The upper level was the temple proper, consisting of single cella and a pronaos (vestibule chamber), elevated on

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2112-1003: Is divided administratively into the following: Salé has a Mediterranean climate ( Csa ) with warm to hot dry summers and mild damp winters. Located along the Atlantic Ocean, Salé has a mild, temperate climate, shifting from cool in winter to warm days in the summer months. The nights are always cool (or cold in winter, it can reach Sub 0 °C (32 °F) sometimes), with daytime temperatures generally rising about 7 to 8 °C (45 to 46 °F). The winter highs typically reach only 17.2 °C (63.0 °F) in December–February. Summer daytime highs usually hover around 25 °C (77.0 °F), but may occasionally exceed 30 °C (86.0 °F), especially during heat waves. Summer nights are usually pleasant and cool, ranging between 11 °C (51.8 °F) and 19 °C (66.2 °F) and rarely exceeding 20 °C (68.0 °F). Rabat belongs to

2208-415: Is divided into three naves by two rows of horseshoe arches. Two more rows of arches, perpendicular to the others, delimit a central aisle running towards the mihrab on the southeastern wall. At the mosque's southwest corner is a small, partly-ruined minaret with a square base and polylobed-arch windows. Outside the mosque, near the minaret, is a small water basin or well that was used for ablutions fed by

2304-452: Is operated by Transdev . As of February 2022, the network had two lines with a total length of 26.9 km (17 miles) and 43 stations. In 2023, an extension of the network was being planned and is due to be completed by 2028. Water supply and wastewater collection in Salé was irregular, with poorer and illegal housing units suffering the highest costs and most acute scarcities. Much of

2400-591: Is the Funduq Askour , the former maristan (hospital). It was originally built by the Marinid sultan Abu Inan towards 1350. All that remains of the original building today is a highly-decorated entrance portal. A short distance east of the city walls is the Zawiya al-Nussak , originally built in 1356 by Abu Inan, most likely as a lodge for Sufis . By the 20th century it had fallen into ruin but it has recently been restored. Its most significant and well-preserved feature

2496-478: Is the main inter-city station, from which trains run south to Rabat , Casablanca , Marrakech and El Jadida , north to Tanger , or east to Meknes , Fes , Taza and Oujda . The Rabat–Salé tramway was the first tramway network in Morocco and it connects Salé with Rabat across the river. It was opened on 11 May 2011 after a construction cost of 3.6 billion MAD . The network was constructed by Alstom Citadis and

2592-517: Is the most richly-decorated tomb in the complex and is better-preserved than the other tombs. Its remaining walls are covered in elaborate low-relief decoration carved in stone. The back wall inside the mausoleum has a central double-arched niche framed by an epigraphic frieze containing verses 30 and 31 of Surah XVI from the Qur'an . This in turn is surrounded by geometric decoration and more epigraphic decoration. Zellij (mosaic tilework ) decorated

2688-407: Is the result of 18th-century renovations. ) Al-Mansur is also reported to have created the first bridge linking the city with Rabat across the river. In September 1260, Salé was raided and occupied by warriors sent in a fleet of ships by King Alfonso X of Castile . The Marinid sultan Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd Al-Haqq ( r.  1258–1286 ) reconquered the town and afterwards helped to rebuild

2784-403: The Madrasa of Abu al-Hasan , the Zawiya al-Nussak , and a maristan (hospital for the mentally ill ). In the 14th century, Ibn 'Ashir (d. 1362 or 1363), a Sufi mystic from al-Andalus, moved to Salé and attracted other Sufis to him, including Ibn Abbad al-Rundi . Ibn Ashir later became the patron saint of the city and his mausoleum dominates the large seaside cemetery of the medina. In

2880-450: The desert island . Salé is twinned with: Salé also cooperates with: 34°02′N 6°48′W  /  34.033°N 6.800°W  / 34.033; -6.800 Sala Colonia The Chellah or Shalla ( Berber languages : Sla or Calla ; Arabic : شالة ), is a medieval fortified Muslim necropolis and ancient archeological site in Rabat , Morocco , located on

2976-539: The vizier of the Nasrid sultan Muhammad V , visited the site during his master's exile from Granada and mentioned it in his writings. He described the luxurious decoration of the tombs and noted that a large fragment of a kiswah (the cloth that covers the Ka'ba in Mecca ) was draped over the tomb of Abu al-Hasan. After the Marinid period the necropolis declined. It was pillaged for

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3072-417: The "monumental" district around the forum, where the most important public buildings stood. The city was built on a sloped site and consequently its buildings were constructed upon a series of artificial terraces, with at least three terraces visible today. Streets were laid out in a regular grid and the two most important streets were the decumanus maximus and the cardo maximus . At the eastern end of

3168-422: The 13th-century mosque, but at some point it became submerged due to water seeping in from underground and it is now inhabited by eels. The rampart walls surrounding the site are built in rammed earth (or pisé). They are pierced by three gates and interspersed with defensive towers. The towers typically have a square base and contain three levels inside. The most monumental gate is in the northwestern part of

3264-511: The 17th century, Salé became a haven for Barbary pirates , among them the Moriscos expelled from Spain turned corsairs, who formed an independent Republic of Salé . Salé pirates (the well-known " Salé Rovers ") enslaved civilians from European coasts; capturing, for, example, 1,000 English villagers in 1625, selling them later in Africa. They sold their crews and sometimes passengers into slavery in

3360-584: The 20th century to move some of the most important objects in the necropolis to museums in Rabat. The remains of the ancient Roman city were first identified in the late 19th century by French geographer Charles Tissot. The first investigation and study of the Islamic-era remains were carried out by Henri Basset and Évariste Lévi-Provençal in 1922. The first excavations of the Roman city were carried out in 1929–30 under

3456-502: The Almohad caliph Yaqub al-Mansur ( r.  1184–1199 ) founded Ribat al-Fath (present-day Rabat ) across the river, Salé seems to have remained important and was used as a residence by the Almohad caliphs, who also made various improvements to the city. The current Great Mosque of Salé was built on the order of Yaqub al-Mansur in 1196, over the site of city's former main mosque whose roof had collapsed. (Its present-day form, however,

3552-663: The Arabic world. Despite the legendary reputation of the Salé corsairs, their ships were based across the river in Rabat, called "New Salé" by the English. European powers took action to try to eliminate the threat from the Barbary Coast. On 20 July 1629, the city of Salé was bombarded by French Admiral Isaac de Razilly with a fleet composed of the ships Licorne , Saint-Louis , Griffon , Catherine , Hambourg , Sainte-Anne , Saint-Jean ; his forces destroyed three corsair ships. During

3648-563: The French-engineered "Berber Decree" was a means to turn the table against the French occupation of Morocco. The widespread storm that was created by the "Berber Dahir" controversy created a somewhat popular Moroccan nationalist elite based in Salé and Fez ; it had strong anti-Berber, anti-West, anti-secular, and pro Arab-Islamic inclinations. This period helped develop the political awareness and activism that would lead fourteen years later to

3744-443: The Marinid walls is roughly pentagonal in shape and is smaller than the former Roman city. Most of the Marinid structures inside are contained within a religious complex in the southeastern part of the enclosure, called the khalwa ( Arabic : خلوة ). Outside this complex there is also a hammam in the far eastern corner of the enclosure and a residential complex located just inside the main gate. The khalwa consists principally of

3840-567: The Mauretanian kingdom became a client state of Rome. Some relics from the time of these two kings have been discovered at Chellah. After the death of Ptolemy in 40 AD the region was annexed by Rome and became the province of Mauretania Tingitana . On this site the Romans built their own city, Sala Colonia. The Roman town was referred to as "Sala" by Ptolemy , a 2nd-century writer. Excavations have revealed that older Mauretanian structures existed on

3936-460: The area near the Great Mosque and in the large seaside cemetery occupying the southwestern corner of the medina. The mausoleum complex of Sidi Abdallah ibn Hassun, one of the two patron saints of the city, is located just west of the mosque. The other patron saint of the city, Ibn Athir, is buried in a prominent mausoleum further west, near the shore. One of the other historic landmarks of the city

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4032-508: The banks of the Bou Regreg was known as Shalat ( Punic : 𐤔𐤏‬𐤋𐤕 , šʿlt ; compare Hebrew סלע , rock ), which appears to derive from the Punic word for "rock". By the first century BC the local inhabitants were still writing in the neo-Punic language but the region came under the influence of Rome . At this time the area was occupied by the ancient Berber Mauretanian Kingdom . Under its last two rulers, Juba II and Ptolemy ,

4128-702: The burden of support shifted to his father. At this time, he also ran a yeshiva in Salé. When a famine hit Morocco, he decided to leave his native country and settle in the Land of Israel , then part of the Ottoman Syria . En route, he was detained in Livorno by the rich members of the Jewish community who established a yeshiva for him. This was in 1739. Many of his pupils later became prominent and furnished him with funds to print his Or ha-Ḥayyim ( Hebrew : light of life ). Chaim

4224-614: The city had the status of a municipium around the mid-2nd century AD. One of the two main Roman roads in Mauretania Tingitana reached the Atlantic through Iulia Constantia Zilil (Asilah), Lixus (Larache) and Sala Colonia. Another may have been built towards the south, from Sala to modern Casablanca , then called Anfa . The Romans had two main naval outposts on the Atlantic coast of

4320-536: The city used to rely upon communal standpipes , which were often shut down, depriving some neighbourhoods of safe drinking water for indefinite periods of time. Nevertheless, Salé fared better than inland Moroccan locations, where water scarcity was even more acute. Improvements from the government, local businesses and the water distribution companies of Régie de distribution d'Eau & d'Électricité de Rabat-Salé (REDAL) as of 2010 have meant that this situation has improved drastically. The film Black Hawk Down

4416-504: The city walls. The historic gate of Bab el-Mrisa was constructed at this time and remains a landmark of the city. During the Marinid period, the city's fortifications continued to be upgraded and a new protected harbour was built. The harbour, located on the south side of the city, was linked to the river by two channels, with Bab el-Mrisa and another monumental gate serving as water gates through which boats passed. The Marinids added new religious and charitable constructions, including

4512-523: The city. The other major building in this western area is located directly opposite the capitolium , to the south and near the perimeter wall of the Marinid religious complex. This building is poorly-preserved and has been tentatively identified as either a curia (the Curia Ulpia ) or as a basilica . Its construction is likely contemporary with that of the nearby capitolium . It has a rectangular floor plan measuring about 32 by 19 metres. At its center

4608-446: The decades preceding the independence of Morocco, Salé was the stronghold of some "national movement" activists. The reading of the "Latif" (a politically charged prayer to God, read in mosques in loud unison) was launched in Salé and became popular in some cities of Morocco. A petition against the so-called " Berber Dahir " (a decree that allowed some Berber-speaking areas of Morocco to continue using Berber Law, as opposed to Sharia Law)

4704-515: The enclosure and is built in brick and cut stone with carved ornamentation. It is one of the most exceptional gates built by the Marinids, demonstrating influences from earlier monumental gates built by the Almohads (e.g. Bab er-Rouah and Bab Oudaya ). The gate's façade is decorated with two polylobed arch motifs around the pointed horseshoe-shaped archway. The spandrels of the arch are filled with

4800-410: The end of the 5th century. Some of the major monuments of the town were abandoned around this time. The site of the large capitolium temple, for example, was turned into a cemetery and a dumping ground during the 4th century. Archaeological objects of Visigothic and Byzantine origin found in the area attest to the persistence of commercial or political contacts between Sala and Roman Europe, up to

4896-561: The establishment of a Byzantine presence in North Africa during the 7th century. Fragments of pottery with Christian motifs and graffiti have also been found among objects dating from the 4th to 6th centuries. Sala began to be abandoned in the 5th century and was mostly in ruins when the Muslim Arabs arrived in the 7th century. The Byzantine governor of the area, Count Julian of Ceuta , surrendered to Uqba ibn Nafi in 683. The area

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4992-548: The exact chronology of its development is not well known. The first Marinid constructions and the first royal burial were in 1284–85, when sultan Abu Yusuf Ya'qub chose the site to bury his wife, Umm al-'Izz. He built a small mosque (still extant) next to her tomb. The tomb itself was a qubba , a small mausoleum chamber covered by a dome or pyramidal roof. The sultan himself was buried next to her after his death in Algeciras in 1286. His son and successor, Abu Ya'qub Yusuf ,

5088-402: The excavated area is the forum. It is flanked on its north side by a structure standing on higher ground which has been identified as a " temple " with five cellae . On the south side of the plaza, on a lower level, is a long building with nine rooms, possibly tabernae (shops), that open onto another street. The dating of the temple and the adjoining forum has been debated. Jean Boube dated

5184-675: The first time by Ahmad al-Liḥyani, a pretender to the Marinid throne based in Meknes between 1417 and 1437. Although he and other pretenders were eventually suppressed by Abu Zakariya Yahya , the regent and de facto Wattasid ruler between 1420 and 1448, the Wattasids chose not to try and restore the necropolis. Many of the remaining structures in Chellah were damaged by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and fell into ruins. The 'Alawi sultans stationed soldiers here afterwards to prevent further looting, but in

5280-555: The gate of the Sidi Boumediene Complex in Tlemcen (present-day Algeria ), suggesting that the same team of artisans may have been involved in both designs. The hammam (Islamic bathhouse) of Chellah has a roughly rectangular floor plan measuring 28.5 by 10.4 metres. Henri Terrasse estimated that its construction was contemporary with the other major Marinid structures in Chellah and that it took place between 1339 and 1358. It

5376-478: The grave. Both are richly carved with elaborate Arabic inscriptions that record their names, titles, and the details of their burials. A number of Marinid-period marble capitals are also housed at the museum. Since 2005, the ruins of Chellah host an international "Festival of Jazz" each year, called Jazz au Chellah . Additionally, it is currently home to a venue of the annual Mawazine music festival in Rabat, which showcases popular contemporary music from around

5472-530: The historic center of Rabat , but it was never finished. The town of Salā on the right bank (northern side) of the river continued to develop and during the following Marinid dynasty period (13th to 15th centuries) it grew more important than the settlements of the left bank. During the Marinid period the site of ancient Sala was re-appropriated and turned into a royal necropolis for the ruling dynasty, now known as Chellah ( Arabic : شالة , romanized :  Shāllah ). Because of its ruined condition today,

5568-402: The hot room contained the furnace that heated the baths and its water via the traditional hypocaust system. A small chamber near the changing room probably contained the latrines. The hammam was entered from a gate at its west corner. The changing room consisted of a central square space flanked by two small rectangular galleries divided from it by a row of arches supported by columns. This room

5664-411: The late 10th or early 11th century, before it was apparently moved to North Africa and eventually reused by the Marinids, who carved the other side of it with the sultan's funerary inscription. The same museum also holds the tombstones of Abu al-Hasan and his wife Shams al-Ḍuḥa. These tombstones were maqabriyya s: marble tombstones shaped approximately like a triangular prism and laid horizontally over

5760-402: The late 18th century an Arab tribe, the Ṣabbaḥ, took possession of the enclosure until in 1790 sultan Moulay Yazid charged the governor of Salé, Abu Ya'za al-Qasṭali, with removing them. During this episode the necropolis was again looted. Despite this decline, the site acquired local religious importance over time. At some point, Sufis began to inhabit the site and the madrasa was reused as

5856-463: The lower portions of the wall. Three windows are pierced above this. The exterior side of this wall, facing out from the complex, is carved with two rectangular friezes, one filled with an ornate Kufic inscription and the other with a Naskhi (cursive) inscription. The Kufic inscription includes verse 185 of Surah III , while the Naskhi inscription is a dedication to Abu al-Hasan. These two friezes enclose

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5952-473: The madrasa from the forecourt on the north side of the mosque. The gate, a horseshoe arch, is framed by a rectangular frieze or alfiz filled with geometric star patterns in zellij tiling. The spandrels of the archway are filled with arabesque motifs and a polylobed arch motif, similar to the monumental main gate of the complex, but instead of carved stone they are executed in highly colourful zellij tiling. The decoration of this gateway also has similarities to

6048-501: The main gate. According to some sources he was buried in this necropolis too after his death in 1331, though Ibn Khaldun wrote that he was buried in Fez . Construction of the main gate was finished by Abu al-Hasan, as evidenced by an inscription on it which dates its completion to July 1339 ( Dhu al-Qadah 739 AH ) and refers to the complex as a "ribat". During Abu al-Hasan's lifetime one of his wives, Shams al-Ḍuḥa (the mother of Abu Inan ),

6144-463: The middle of 1742 he arrived in Jerusalem, where he founded Yeshivat Knesset Yisrael . One of his disciples there was Chaim Yosef David Azulai , who wrote of his master's greatness: "Attar's heart pulsated with Talmud; he uprooted mountains like a resistless torrent; his holiness was that of an angel of the Lord,... having severed all connection with the affairs of this world." On July 7, 1743, less than

6240-435: The necropolis as well, towards the southern part of the area. These shrines were built at a later date, and appear to be grouped together. One of such buildings is a shrine containing the tomb of Sidi Yahya ibn Yunus, a mystic believed to have lived in the 7th century. The Museum of History and Civilizations in Rabat houses some Roman-era artifacts from Sala Colonia. The museum also holds several Marinid-period pieces from

6336-449: The necropolis. One of these is the tombstone of Abu Ya'qub Yusuf, a rectangular marble slab which was a spolia from Roman-era Hispania Baetica , as seen in the Roman inscription on the back side which mentions a Roman governor of that province named Aulus Caecina Tacitus from the second half of the 3rd century AD. The stone was initially reused for an Umayyad fountain in Cordoba , probably in

6432-455: The pool. The courtyard was once surrounded by a peristyle portico supported by marble columns, no longer standing. Behind the portico, on the two long sides of the courtyard, are a number of small rooms which served as sleeping quarters for students. Two staircases provided access to an upper floor above this, probably with a similar layout. The courtyard was paved and decorated with intricate zellij (mosaic tilework), parts of which survive. At

6528-525: The present town of Salé. The town of Salé proper was probably founded in the 11th century by families from al-Andalus (present-day Spain), most importantly the Banu 'Ashara. The latter family included learned jurists ( faqih s ) and judges ( qadi s ) and they became the city's de facto rulers. The Banu 'Ashara reportedly hosted Ibn Tumart , the founder of the Almohad movement, in their palace in 1121, while he

6624-399: The prominent minaret that adjoin the mosque and mausoleums. He set up a charitable endowment ( waqf ) to fund the operations of the religious complex. Remains at the site today also show that the necropolis was accompanied by a residential quarter to the north, complete with a water supply system. A preserved hammam (bathhouse) from this period also stands near the far eastern corner of

6720-570: The province: Sala Colonia, and Lixus. The port of Sala (now disappeared) was used by commercial Roman ships as a way station on their southwestward passages to Anfa and the Insula Purpuraria ( Mogador island ). Sala remained linked to the Roman Empire even after the withdrawal in the 4th century of the occupying Roman legions to Tingis (Tangier) and Septem (Ceuta) in northern Mauretania Tingitana. A Roman military unit remained there until

6816-402: The remains of the ancient Roman town. Today the site is a tourist attraction and since 2012 it forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The Phoenicians founded several trading colonies along the Atlantic coast of what is now Morocco, but the existence of a Phoenician settlement on the site of Chellah has been debated by archeologists. Jean Boube, who led some of the modern excavations at

6912-539: The signing of the Manifest of Independence of Morocco on 11 January 1944 by many "Slawi" activists and leaders. Salé has been deemed to have been the stronghold of the Moroccan left for many decades, where many leaders have resided. Salé, like many other Moroccan cities, had its own mellah , where the Jewish community resided. Raphael Encaoua, a famous rabbi born in Salé is buried in the Jewish cemetery nearby. The prefecture

7008-437: The site before Roman structures were built over them. For the Roman period, they show a substantial port city with ruined Roman architectural elements including a decumanus maximus or principal roadway, a forum and a triumphal arch . The area around the forum, excavated and visible today, was subjected to many transformations over time and the exact chronology of these is still debated. Inscriptions found on site show that

7104-418: The site, discovered neo- Punic artifacts dating as far back as the 3rd century BC, which suggests there must have been a small trading post here around that time. Later excavations by Boube also found fragments of Phoenician or Punic bowls dating to the 7th and early 6th centuries BC, but it is possible that such early items were imported by trade rather than being evidence of occupation. The settlement along

7200-413: The site. Its main shaft has a traditional square base and its four facades are each decorated with a sebka composition above two blind polylobed arches (each enclosing small windows). The negative spaces within these motifs are filled with zellij tile decoration. In addition to Abu al-Hasan's mausoleum, one of the most exceptional examples of decoration in the complex is the gateway that leads towards

7296-521: The south (left) side of the Bou Regreg estuary. The earliest evidence of the site's occupation suggests that the Phoenicians established a trading emporium here in the first millennium BC. This was later the site of Sala Colonia , an ancient Roman colony in the province of Mauretania Tingitana , before it was abandoned in Late Antiquity . In the late 13th century the site began to be used as

7392-425: The southeast end of the courtyard a doorway leads to a rectangular hall that served as a prayer room. A mihrab was set in the back wall here. Unusually, the mihrab is surrounded by a narrow passage that runs around and behind it. This passage may have been used by pilgrims who circumambulated it. At the northeastern corner of the madrasa is a preserved minaret, about 15 metres tall and prominently visible from most of

7488-401: The square turret above is accomplished with the use of muqarnas in the corners. Inside, the gate has a bent passage that turns 90 degrees. The inner façade of the gate, facing towards the religious complex, is decorated with a simpler version of the motifs seen on the outside of the gate. The mosque, located in the center of the southwestern half of the complex, is a hypostyle hall. It

7584-461: The sub-humid bioclimatic zone with an average annual precipitation of 560 mm. Salé's climate resembles that of the southwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula and the coast of Southern California . The historic old city ( medina ) of Salé occupies a large area near the mouth of the Bou Regreg river. It is enclosed by defensive walls pierced with several entrances, the most notable of which

7680-572: The supervision of Jules Borély, head of the Service des Beaux-Arts , an agency of the French Protectorate in Morocco at that time. This initial work cleared away vegetation from the ruined mosque and unearthed a large portion of the "monumental" Roman quarter visible today. Excavations did not take place again until 1958, after Moroccan independence, when the head of the Service des Antiquités du Maroc , Maurice Euzennat, appointed Jean Boube to begin

7776-410: The surrounding buildings, but another hypothesis has dated it to around the time of Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161). Various other structures are scattered around the site, including two more structures identified as temples to the east of the capitolium . Remains of a Roman bath are found in the eastern part of the site, between the Marinid madrasa and the Islamic-era bathhouse. The area enclosed by

7872-425: The temple to the mid-first century BC, which would make it a Mauretanian structure (before the region was annexed as a Roman province). Statues of the Mauretanian client kings Juba II and Ptolemy have been found here, leading Boube to suggest the temple was originally dedicated to them. Other archeologists have argued that it belongs instead to the Roman period (after annexation). More recent studies have again suggested

7968-409: The tomb of Shams al-Ḍuḥa (d. 1349). Each tomb is a qubba or square chamber that was probably once covered by a dome or a pyramidal tiled roof, similar to other mausoleums in Morocco. These tombs are largely ruined and contain only small fragments of their former decoration. The ruined qubba further south, set against the perimeter wall of the complex, belongs to Sultan Abu al-Hasan (d. 1351). This

8064-448: The tomb of a girl named Lalla Chella, to which the site's name was popularly attributed. Some local beliefs, especially among women, associated beneficial maraboutic powers to some of the animals, like the eels and turtles , that lived in the pools here. For example, it was believed that feeding the eels could aid fertility and childbirth. Legends about buried treasures also led to illegal excavations at times and pushed authorities in

8160-433: The trees as well as on the minaret of the ruined zawiya. On 3 November 2023, a team of Moroccan archaeologists and researchers discovered the first port district of the Roman era in Morocco, dating from the first to the second century AD, along with the first life-sized headless statue of a female goddess found in Morocco since 1960. The excavated portion of the Roman city covers about 1.2 hectares and corresponds to

8256-516: The walled enclosure. Abu al-Hasan was the last sultan to be buried here. Abu Inan is believed to have been buried at the Great Mosque of Fes el-Jdid and other Marinid sultans after him were mostly buried at the Marinid Tombs in Fez or other sites. Other Marinid family members, such as Abu Inan's sister and other princes, were still occasionally buried at Chellah. Between 1360 and 1363 Ibn al-Khatib ,

8352-459: Was buried at the site after his death in 1307, and his successor, Abu Thabit 'Amir , was buried near Abu Ya'qub Yusuf in 1308. The most important Marinid constructions appear to have occurred during the reigns of Abu Sa'id Uthman II (r. 1310–1331) and his son, Abu al-Hasan (r. 1331–1348; also known as the Black Sultan). Abu Sa'id enclosed the area with a set of walls and began construction of

8448-408: Was buried here in 1349. One of his sons, Abu Malik, may have also been buried in the necropolis in 1339. After his death in exile in 1351, Abu al-Hasan's body was buried in a mausoleum here as well, near his wife. This mausoleum may have been finished by his son and successor, Abu Inan (r. 1348–1358). Abu Inan may have also been responsible for building or completing the madrasa (Islamic college) and

8544-565: Was given to Sultan Mohamed V and the Resident General of France. The petition and the "Latif" prayer led to the withdrawal and adjustment of the so-called "Berber Decree" of May 1930. The activists who opposed the "Berber Decree" apparently feared that the explicit recognition of the Berber Customary Law (a very secular-minded Berber tradition) would threaten the position of Islam and its Sharia law system. Others believed that opposing

8640-403: Was on his way to Marrakesh . They resisted the Almohad invasion under Ibn Tumart's successor, 'Abd al-Mu'min ( r.  1130–1163 ). As a result, the latter destroyed the city walls, eliminated the Banu 'Ashara and seized their palace. When Abd al-Mu'min summoned the rulers of al-Andalus to pledge allegiance to him in 1151, he received them in this palace. Later in the 12th century, when

8736-622: Was only occupied again in the 10th century, when historical sources mention the existence of a ribat in the area. Around 1030, a new town called Salā (present-day Salé ) was founded on the opposite side of the river (the north side) by the Banu 'Ashara family. After the end of the Umayyad Caliphate in Al-Andalus in the early 11th century, the Almoravids assumed control of the region and built

8832-473: Was partially filmed in Salé, in particular the wide angle aerial shots with helicopters flying down the coastline. The character Robinson Crusoe , in the early part of Daniel Defoe 's novel by the same name, spends time in captivity of the local pirates, the Salé Rovers , and at last sails off to liberty from the mouth of the Salé river - an adventure less well remembered than the protagonist's later sojourn on

8928-436: Was probably the most decorated space in the building, though no decoration has been preserved today. The central square space was probably covered by an ornate wooden vault ceiling while the galleries were covered by groin vaults . The cold room and hot room are both roofed by groin vaults, while the warm room between them is larger and is roofed by two cloister vaults . Several shrines dedicated to Sufi mystics are present in

9024-539: Was received with great honor wherever he traveled because of his extensive knowledge and keen intellect. Before permanently settling in the Land of Israel, he went to Algiers where he recruited students for a yeshiva he was planning on opening in the Land of Israel. He soon arrived at the Acre port in the Land of Israel with his two wives and thirty students. However he could not immediately proceed to Jerusalem , due to an epidemic. In

9120-454: Was restored in the 20th century. It shares general similarities with other historic hammams in this part of the Islamic world. It consists of a changing room near the entrance (equivalent to the Roman apodyterium ), followed by a cold room (equivalent to the frigidarium ), a warm room (equivalent to the tepidarium ), and a hot room (equivalent to the caldarium ). Another chamber behind

9216-462: Was the first continental crown in the club's history. The football section of AS Salé is the football club of the city. Salé's main airport is Rabat–Salé Airport , which is located in Salé but also serves Rabat , the capital city of Morocco . Salé is served by two principal railway stations run by the national rail service, the ONCF . These stations are Salé-Tabriquet and Salé-Ville . Salé-Ville

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