Meknes Royal Stables
About the place
- Country : Morocco , Meknes
- Address : Meknes, Morocco
- Category : Urban Facilities
- founder : Sultan Moulay Ismail
Meknes Royal Stables
Overview:
The royal stables of Meknes are a wonderful place, as this huge stable is built to hold no less than twelve thousand royal horses.
Historic overview:
Sultan Moulay Ismail bin Sharif built the largest stable in the world called “The Horse Palace.” The historians Abdel Rahman bin Ziyad and Abu al-Qasim al-Zayani spoke about it, and it could accommodate more than 12,000 horses.
Today most of the stables are ruins as a result of an earthquake during the eighteenth century, and the roofs of the stables are no longer provide protection.
Although it is currently not in the good condition that Ismail would have approved, visitors remain amazed because of its huge size and the effort that went into its construction.
There are still a few horses there - for tourists only - so they can learn about breeds such as Berbers, Arabs and Arab Berbers.
Architectural Description:
Another feature that makes the Royal Stables of Meknes one of the finest tourist attractions in Morocco is the layout and location specially chosen to accommodate the horses.
There is a channel that runs fresh water through the stables constantly.
The Sultan was concerned about the supply of fodder for his stables so he built a silo, known as the "Water Palace", behind the royal stables.
The granaries were built and designed to be able to store grain to feed the horses, about twelve thousand horses for twenty years.
To store such large quantities of grain, silos had to be kept cool, that is why silos were built with thick walls.
Resources:
Website of the Ministry of Culture of Morocco
tripadvisor website
Annie Wright Photography website
hespress website
