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About

 Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur

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digital graphic

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patron

 Rabat

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place

city walls

gallery

gate

Timeline: Almohad {1130-1269}

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Morocco

Built in 1197 by the Almohad ruler Yaqub al-Mansur, this elaborately decorated monumental port was one of five in the city walls of Rabat.&nbsp; Inside the gate two large vestibules measuring 4.2 x 2.2 m give way four smaller rooms that are 5.65 sq. m.&nbsp; In 1960 the space became an art gallery.&nbsp; It was renovated between 2001-2002 the Ministry of Culture. SOURCES: "Bab Rouah - Historical Site, Architectural Wonder and Exquisite Art 
Gallery." Bab Rouah in Rabat. Accessed February 05, 2015. <a data-bypass="true" target="_blank" href="http://www.morocco.com/attractions/bab-rouah/">http://www.morocco.com/attractions/bab-rouah/</a>. "Galerie Bab Rouah." Ministere De La Culture, Royaume Du Maroc. Accessed
 February 05, 2015. <a data-bypass="true" target="_blank" href="http://www.minculture.gov.ma/fr/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=124%3Agalerie-bab-rouah-&amp;catid=43&amp;Itemid=129">http://www.minculture.gov.ma/fr/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=124%3Agalerie-bab-rouah-&amp;catid=43&amp;Itemid=129</a>.

Construction

adaptive reuse

galleries

gates

brick

Josephine Powell

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B & W print

Bab Rouah

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Bab al-Rua

Bab er-Rouah

Alternate transliteration

Gate of the Winds

Translated

Galerie Bab Rouah 

Alternate

See <a href="https://www.archnet.org/collections/2353" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Timeline: Almohad</a> ﻿North African Berber dynasty which ruled over much of North Africa, Spain and parts of sub-Saharan West Africa. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Almohads originated from the Atlas mountains of Morocco and were led by a religious leader who preached moral reform. They defeated the ruling dynasty of the&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/timelines/48/period/Almoravid/year/1053" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Almoravids</a>&nbsp;and established the greatest empire of the western Islamic world. In 1170/565 AH the capital was moved to&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/authorities/3944" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Seville</a>&nbsp;from where resistance to the Christian reconquest could be organized.&nbsp;City walls are equally demonstrative symbols of Almohad ideology with stepped crenellations and decorated gateway facades. The best examples of Almohad fortifications are the city gates at&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/authorities/3900" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rabat</a>&nbsp;with their complex bent entrances and monumental facades decorated with cusped arches.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Almohad architecture is characterized by its mosques and fortifications. The most notable feature of Almohad mosques are the large minaret towers which dominate the great mosques of&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/authorities/3944" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Seville</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/authorities/3820" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Marakesh</a>&nbsp;and Rabat. Under their predecessors, the Almoravids, minarets were thought to be inappropriate and were left out of mosque designs. The Almohads were responsible for reintroducing the minaret, first in a tentative form, as in the&nbsp;minaret of&nbsp;<a href="http://archnet.org/sites/1745" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Timnal</a>&nbsp;where it is a low tower behind the mihrab, and later in a monumental form. The design varied from one tower to another but the basic form was a square shaft containing a central core with a vaulted room on each storey. The exterior was usually decorated with windows set within frames made of cusped arches which formed networks of lozenge shapes. The form of these minarets established a tradition which was followed in mosques of the fourteenth century and later. Petersen, Andrew.&nbsp;Dictionary of Islamic Architecture.&nbsp;London and New York: Routledge, 1999.

Bab RouahRabat, Morocco

Bab Rouah
Rabat, Morocco