Rabat

The Mellah
with its narrow lanes and colorful courtyards, is now the home of a few Jewish families.

The Jewish cemetery:
The near-by mellah has a beautiful synagogue just inside its gates, while the main synagogue is found a few blocks onward in the New City. Rabat's Jewish cemetery has tombstones with inscriptions in Hebrew, French and Spanish. Important saints include Eliezer de Avila and Chalom Zaoui. A few kilometers North of Rabat, a new Jewish museum has opened, near the Plage des Nations.

The Kasbah des Oudaias,
situated on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, you’ll find magnificent views. The Oudaias Kasbah was the home of the Sale pirates, some of whom were Portuguese Marranos. The Oudaias Museum has a display of traditional Moroccan clothing, including a Jewish wedding costume.

The ancient ruins of Chellah:
Just outside the city walls of Rabat is another walled city, the Chellah, where Jews are believed to have lived during the time of the Phoenicians. Rabat's Archeological Museum has a strong focus on the Roman town of Volubilis and displays a Jewish lamp found at the site.

The Hassan Tower:
The unfinished Tour Hassan Mosque is the counterpart of Marrakech’s Koutoubia Mosque and the Giralda Cathedral in Seville, Spain, all of which were built by the Almohad Dynasty, the twelfth 12 century persecutors of the Jewish people.

The Tomb of Mohammed V:
Adjoining the Tour Hassan is the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V, which has become a pilgrimage site for Jews, who cannot forget his efforts to defend them against the anti-Semitic policies of the French Vichy Government.

Sale

Rabat's sister city of Sale had its own mellah. It was an important center of Jewish intellectual thought. The main door to the mellah and the beautiful Medersa were constructed by the Merenids, who had close ties to the Jews. Sale's most famous rabbi, Raphael Encaoua, is buried in the Sale cemetery. His tomb is the focus of a major hiloula.