Rabat

Rabat is the capital city of Morocco and its seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. It is one of four Imperial cities of Morocco.

Rabat and neighboring Salé united to form the Republic of Bou Regreg in 1627. The republic was run by Barbary pirates who used the two cities as base ports for launching attacks on shipping. The pirates did not have to contend with any central authority until the Alaouite Dynasty united Morocco in 1666. The latter attempted to establish control over the pirates, but failed. European and Muslim authorities continued to attempt to control the pirates over many years, but the Republic of Bou Regreg did not collapse until 1818. Even after the republic's collapse, pirates continued to use the port of Rabat, which led to the shelling of the city by Austria in 1829 after an Austrian ship had been lost to a pirate attack.

Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City: a Shared Heritage is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From the Wikipedia entry for Hassan Tower:

Hassan Tower is the minaret of an incomplete mosque in Rabat. Commissioned by Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, the third Caliph of the Almohad Caliphate in 1195, the tower was intended to be the largest minaret in the world along with the mosque, also intended to be the world's largest. When al-Mansur died in 1199, construction on the mosque stopped. The tower reached 44 m (144 ft), about half of its intended 86 m (282 ft) height. The rest of the mosque was also left incomplete, with only the beginnings of several walls and 348 columns being constructed. The tower, made of red sandstone, along with the remains of the mosque and the modern Mausoleum of Mohammed V, forms an important historical and tourist complex in Rabat.

All pictures are © Dr. Günther Eichhorn, unless otherwise noted.