Kasbah of Gnaouas

Kasbah Gnawa (Arabic: قصبة ڭناوة), also referred to as: Kasbah of Gnaouas or Ismailian Kasbah is a kasbah located in the city of Salé in Morocco, and is the only one on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river.

Nowadays, the kasbah is hosting a circus school called "Shemsy's", which is the national Moroccan circus school, and the only circus school in Morocco and the whole of Africa.

The Kasbah Gnawa was originally one of the largest fortresses erected during the reign of Sultan Moulay Ismail in 1708 where the Jich Abid al-Bukhari (black slave guards from Western Sudan) were placed to protect the coasts of Salé and Rabat against attempts of penetration and foreign occupation. The guards were later accused of disrespecting the honor and virtue of local women, which provoked a violent reaction from the inhabitants, who formed a group led by the governor Abdelhaq Fennich, and attacked the kasbah in 1758.

After the death of Moulay Ismail, The monument was devastated due to riots and internal wars. The Kasbah was thus forgotten until the arrival of Hubert Lyautey in 1912, as the first general resident of France in Morocco. During the First World War, it served as a gathering point for the Moroccan infantry battalions who successively stayed there while awaiting their departure for the various fronts in France and the East.

In 1948, the kabsah was promoted to a national heritage site, by a royal dahir.

Text adapted from “Kasbah Gnawa” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Kasbah of Gnaouas ranks #7,100 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #33 of the 37 mapped in Morocco. Founded 1708, it is older than 22% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 556 atlas entries founded in the 18th century. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Tiflet, 48 km away. See how Morocco compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗