Moroccan architecture
Moroccan architecture reflects Morocco's diverse geography and long history, marked by successive waves of settlers through both migration and military conquest. This architectural heritage includes ancient Roman sites, historic Islamic architecture, local vernacular architecture, 20th-century French colonial architecture, and modern architecture.
Much of Morocco's traditional architecture is marked by the style that developed during the Islamic period, from the 7th century onward. This architecture was part of a wider tradition of "Moorish" or western Islamic architecture, which characterized both the Maghreb and al-Andalus. It blended influences from Amazigh culture in North Africa, pre-Islamic Spain, and contemporary artistic currents in the Islamic Middle East to elaborate a unique style over centuries with recognizable features such as the horseshoe arch, riad gardens, and elaborate geometric and arabesque motifs in wood, carved stucco, and zellij tilework.
Although Moroccan Amazigh architecture is not strictly separate from the rest of Moroccan architecture, many structures and architectural styles are distinctively associated with traditionally Amazigh or Amazigh-dominated regions such as the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara and pre-Sahara regions. These mostly rural regions are marked by numerous kasbahs and ksour shaped by local geography and social structures, of which one of the most famous is Ait Benhaddou. They are typically made of rammed earth and decorated with local geometric motifs. Far from being isolated from other historical artistic currents around them, the Amazigh peoples of Morocco adapted the forms and ideas of Islamic architecture to their own conditions and in turn contributed to the formation of Western Islamic art, particularly during their political domination of the region over the centuries of Almoravid, Almohad, and Marinid rule.
Modern architecture in Morocco includes many examples of early 20th-century Art Deco and local neo-Moorish architecture constructed during the French and Spanish colonial occupation of the country between 1912 and 1956. In the later 20th century, after Morocco regained its independence, some new buildings continued to pay tribute to traditional Moroccan architecture and motifs, as exemplified by the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V and the massive Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. Modernist architecture is also evident in contemporary constructions, not only for regular everyday structures but also in major prestige projects.
History
Antiquity
Although less well-documented, Morocco's earliest historical periods were dominated by Berber groups and kingdoms, up to the Berber kingdom of Mauretania. In the 7th or 8th century BC the Phoenicians founded a colony of Lixus on the Atlantic coast, which later came under Carthaginian, Mauretanian, and eventually Roman control. Other important towns such as Tingis and Sala were founded and developed by Phoenicians or Mauretanian Berbers. The settlement of Volubilis was the traditional capital of the Mauretanian kingdom from the second century BC onward, though it may have been founded as early as the third century BC. Under Mauretanian rule its streets were laid out in a grid plan and may have included a palace complex and fortified walls. The influence of Punic culture in the city is archaeologically attested by Punic stelae and the remains of a Punic temple. The Mauretanian king Juba II, a client king of Rome and a promoter of late Hellenistic culture, built a palace in Lixus that was based on Hellenistic models.Roman settlement and construction was much less extensive in the territory of present-day Morocco, which was on the edge of the empire, than it was in nearby regions like Hispania or Africa. The most significant cities, and the ones most directly influenced by Roman culture, were Tingis, Volubilis, and Sala. Large-scale Roman architecture was relatively rare; for example, there is only one known amphitheater in the region, at Lixus. Volubilis, the most inland major city, became a well-developed provincial Roman municipium and its ruins today are the best-preserved Roman site in Morocco. It included aqueducts, a forum, bath complexes, a basilica, the Capitoline Temple, and a triumphal arch dedicated to the emperor Caracalla and his mother in 216–217. The site has also preserved a number of fine Roman mosaics. It continued to be an urban center even after the end of Roman occupation in 285, with evidence of Latin Christian, Berber, and Byzantine occupation.
Early Islamic period (8th–10th century)
In the early 8th century the region became steadily integrated into the emerging Muslim world, beginning with the military incursions of Musa ibn Nusayr and becoming more definitive with the advent of the Idrisid dynasty at the end of that century. The arrival of Islam was extremely significant as it developed a new set of societal norms and institutions which therefore shaped, to some extent, the types of buildings being built and the aesthetic or spiritual values that guided their design.The Idrisids founded the city of Fes, which became their capital and the major political and cultural center of early Islamic Morocco. In this early period Morocco also absorbed waves of immigrants from Tunisia and al-Andalus, who brought in cultural and artistic influences from their home countries. The earliest well-known Islamic-era monuments in Morocco, such as the al-Qarawiyyin and Andalusiyyin mosques in Fes, were built in the hypostyle form and made early use of the horseshoe or "Moorish" arch. These reflected early influences from major monuments like the Great Mosque of Kairouan and the Great Mosque of Cordoba. In the 10th century much of northern Morocco came directly within the sphere of influence of the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba, with competition from the Fatimid Caliphate further east. Early contributions to Moroccan architecture from this period include expansions to the Qarawiyyin and Andalusiyyin mosques and the addition of their square-shafted minarets, the oldest surviving mosques in Morocco, which anticipate the standard form of later Moroccan minarets.
The Berber Empires: Almoravids and Almohads (11th–13th centuries)
The collapse of the Cordoban caliphate in the early 11th century was followed by the significant advance of Christian kingdoms into Muslim al-Andalus and the rise of major Berber empires in Morocco. The latter included first the Almoravids and then the Almohads, both of whom also took control of remaining Muslim territory in al-Andalus, creating empires that stretched across large parts of western and northern Africa and into Europe. This period is considered one of the most formative stages of Moroccan and Moorish architecture, establishing many of the forms and motifs that were refined in subsequent centuries. These two empires were responsible for establishing a new imperial capital at Marrakesh and the Almohads also began construction of a monumental capital in Rabat.File:Koutoubia minaret DSCF8275.jpg|thumb|The minaret of the Almohad Kutubiyya Mosque, Marrakesh |alt=
The Almoravids adopted the architectural developments of al-Andalus, such as the complex interlacing arches of the Great Mosque in Cordoba and of the Aljaferia palace in Zaragoza, while also introducing new ornamental techniques from the east such as muqarnas. The Almohad Kutubiyya and Tinmal mosques are often considered the prototypes of later Moroccan mosques. The monumental minarets and ornamental gateways of the Almohad period also established the overall decorative schemes that became recurrent in these architectural elements thenceforth. The minaret of the Kasbah Mosque of Marrakesh was particularly influential and set a style that was repeated, with minor elaborations, in the following Marinid period. The Almoravids and Almohads also promoted the tradition of establishing garden estates in the countryside of their capital, such as the Menara Garden and the Agdal Gardens on the outskirts of Marrakesh. In the late 12th century the Almohads created a new fortified palace district, the Kasbah of Marrakesh, to serve as their royal residence and administrative center. These traditions and policies had earlier precedents in al-Andalus – such as the creation of Madinat al-Zahra near Cordoba – and were subsequently repeated by future rulers of Morocco.
The Marinids (13th–15th centuries)
The Berber Marinid dynasty that followed was also important in further refining the artistic legacy established by their predecessors. Based in Fes, they built monuments with increasingly intricate and extensive decoration, particularly in wood and stucco. They were also the first to deploy extensive use of zellij. Notably, they were the first to build madrasas, a type of institution which originated in Iran and had spread west. The madrasas of Fes, such as the Bou Inania, al-Attarine, and as-Sahrij madrasas, as well as the Marinid madrasa of Salé and the other Bou Inania in Meknes, are considered among the greatest architectural works of this period. While mosque architecture largely followed the Almohad model, one noted change was the progressive increase in the size of the sahn or courtyard, which was previously a minor element of the floor plan but which eventually, in the subsequent Saadian period, became as large as the main prayer hall, and sometimes larger. Like the Almohads before them, the Marinids created a separate palace-city for themselves; this time, outside Fes. Later known as Fes Jdid, this new fortified citadel had a set of double walls for defense, a new Grand Mosque, a vast royal garden to the north known as el-Mosara, residences for government officials, and barracks for military garrisons. Later on, probably in the 15th century, a new Jewish quarter was created on its south side, the first mellah in Morocco, prefiguring the creation of similar districts in other Moroccan cities in later periods.The architectural style under the Marinids was very closely related to that found in the Emirate of Granada, in Spain, under the contemporary Nasrid dynasty. The decoration of the famous Alhambra is thus reminiscent of what was built in Fes at the same time. When Granada was conquered in 1492 by Catholic Spain and the last Muslim realm of al-Andalus came to an end, many of the remaining Spanish Muslims fled to Morocco and North Africa, further increasing the Andalusian influence in these regions in subsequent generations.