Talmud Thora, the main synagogue of
Rabat, located in the New City. 
Praying at the tomb of a Jewish Saint
Courtesy of Viva (Suzy Arama)
http://www.directviva.com/
| 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 unfinished Tour Hassan Mosque is the counterpart of Marrakesh's Koutoubia Mosque and the Giralda Cathedral in Seville, Spain, all of which were built by the Almohad Dynasty, the twelfth century persecutors of the Jewish people. 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. 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. 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. 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. | ||
Tombstone in the old Jewish cemetery of Rabat. |
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