Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail

The Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail is the burial place of the powerful Alaouite sultan who made Meknes his capital in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. One of the few religious monuments in Morocco that non-Muslims may enter, it leads visitors through a sequence of tranquil courtyards to an ornate tomb chamber decorated with carved plaster, zellij, marble columns and a painted ceiling. Fountains and geometric tilework set a meditative tone. It is both a devotional site and a showcase of Alaouite decorative art.