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Roots Earth in Meknes: audio stories about 40 places

Roots Earth has audio stories about 40 places in Meknes, Morocco, in Africa. The Meknes stories are in all seven Roots Earth languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The app needs no account: open Meknes, pick a place on the city's map of places and play. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection. The stories are written by local people.

The 40 places are listed below in the order the app shows them, and again further down with their coordinates. The lists were taken from the Roots Earth catalogue on 15 September 2026.

Published 16 September 2026. Markdown: meknes.md

The 40 places in Meknes with audio stories

In the order the app shows them.

  1. Bab Mansour
  2. Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail
  3. Heri es-Souani
  4. Dar Jamai Museum
  5. Bou Inania Madrasa
  6. Volubilis
  7. Moulay Idriss Zerhoun
  8. Grand Mosque of Meknes
  9. Kasbah of Moulay Ismail
  10. Dar al-Makhzen
  11. Qara Prison
  12. Bab Berdieyinne Mosque
  13. Bab al-Barda'in
  14. Bab el-Khemis
  15. Bab Moulay Ismail
  16. Sahrij Swani
  17. Koubbat as-Sufara
  18. Roua Stables
  19. Barrima Mosque
  20. Dar Adiyel
  21. El Hedim Square
  22. Lalla Aouda Mosque
  23. Medina of Meknes
  24. Agdal Basin
  25. Meknes Royal Military Academy
  26. Najjarine Mosque
  27. Dar el-Beida Palace
  28. Ville Nouvelle (Hamria)
  29. Moulay Ismail University
  30. Meknes Railway Station
  31. Mellah of Meknes
  32. Lahboul Garden
  33. Place El Hedim Market & Souks
  34. Boufekrane Valley
  35. Sidi Said Quarter
  36. Berrima Quarter
  37. Ouislane
  38. Meknès Prefecture
  39. Place du 11 Janvier
  40. Sidi Bouzekri

Is there an audio guide for Bab Mansour?

Yes. Bab Mansour has its audio stories in the Roots Earth app: a short introduction and a deeper story, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian.

It is place 1 of the 40 Meknes places in the app, at 33.89261, -5.56458. Every one of the other 39 places in the list above has the same two stories.

Roots Earth is not a guided tour: you choose the place on the city's map of places and play its story yourself.

How to use Roots Earth in Meknes

Open Roots Earth and choose Meknes. The city has its own map of places with all 40 of them on it. Tap the place you are standing in front of, or any other, and play its short introduction or its deeper story. You decide what to listen to and in which order.

You can listen in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian, and there is no account. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection.

In full

All 40 places in Meknes, in the app's order, with their coordinates.

All 40 places in Meknes, with coordinates

Every place below has a short introduction and a deeper story in the Roots Earth app, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The names, the coordinates (latitude, longitude) and the one line descriptions are the app's own catalogue values of 15 September 2026; a place without a line here has none that this page can print.

1. Bab Mansour

Coordinates
33.89261, -5.56458
In one line
Meknes's grandest ceremonial gateway, finished in 1732, opens the imperial city of Sultan Moulay Ismail. Marble columns taken from Roman Volubilis flank an enormous horseshoe arch wrapped in green-and-white zellij and carved relief.

2. Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail

Coordinates
33.891, -5.56294
In one line
The tomb of Sultan Moulay Ismail, the ruler who made Meknes his capital. First built in 1703 and later restored, this serene complex of fountain courts, zellij, and carved stucco welcomes non-Muslim visitors into the lamp-lit chamber where he rests.

3. Heri es-Souani

Coordinates
33.88022, -5.55792
In one line
Sultan Moulay Ismail's colossal granary and stables, built in the late 17th century. Endless rows of thick vaulted arches once stored grain to outlast any siege, while horse-driven wells drew water from deep below to supply the entire imperial city.

4. Dar Jamai Museum

Coordinates
33.89383, -5.56639
In one line
A refined palace built in 1882 for a grand vizier and a museum of Moroccan arts since 1920. Set on el-Hedim Square, it surrounds an Andalusian garden and displays ceramics, woodwork, carpets, and jewelry beneath a painted cedar cupola.

5. Bou Inania Madrasa

Coordinates
33.89517, -5.56539
In one line
A 14th-century Marinid Quranic college begun under Sultan Abu al-Hasan. Around a marble-fountain courtyard rise walls of carved cedar, stucco, and zellij, with dozens of student cells and a roof terrace overlooking the medina.

6. Volubilis

Coordinates
34.07111, -5.55361
In one line
The best-preserved Roman site in Morocco and once a capital of Mauretania Tingitana. Spread across forty hectares near Meknes, Volubilis still holds its triumphal arch, capitol, and floor mosaics in place, a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1997.

7. Moulay Idriss Zerhoun

Coordinates
34.05417, -5.52722
In one line
Morocco's holiest town, cascading in white over two hills near Volubilis. It grew around the shrine of Idris I, who brought Islam to the region in the late 8th century, and remains a major pilgrimage center beneath a green-roofed mausoleum and a rare cylindrical minaret.

8. Grand Mosque of Meknes

Coordinates
33.89486, -5.56494
In one line
The principal congregational mosque of the Meknes medina, founded in the 12th century under the Almoravids and enlarged across centuries. Its green-tiled minaret rises over the old city, with eleven gates and a nine-aisle prayer hall inside.

9. Kasbah of Moulay Ismail

Coordinates
33.888, -5.563
In one line
The vast imperial palace-city built by Sultan Moulay Ismail from 1672, ringed by more than 7 kilometers of walls. Nicknamed the Moroccan Versailles, it held palaces, mosques, granaries, stables, and gardens, and forms the core of UNESCO-listed Meknes.

10. Dar al-Makhzen

Coordinates
33.8895, -5.5605
In one line
The royal palace at the heart of Moulay Ismail's imperial kasbah, begun in the late 17th century. Spreading across roughly 60 hectares behind long walls and monumental gates, it remains a working residence of the King of Morocco and is closed to the public.

11. Qara Prison

Coordinates
33.89, -5.565
In one line
A vast underground hall of vaulted chambers and pillars beneath Moulay Ismail's kasbah, built in the early 18th century. Legend names it a prison for Christian captives, though scholars believe it served mainly as a giant subterranean storehouse for the imperial city.

12. Bab Berdieyinne Mosque

Coordinates
33.89972, -5.5676
In one line
A neighborhood mosque in the Meknes medina, completed in 1709 and founded by Khnata bent Bakkar, wife of Moulay Ismail. Its tall brick minaret collapsed during Friday prayers in 2010, killing dozens, and was rebuilt to the original design.

13. Bab al-Barda'in

Coordinates
33.90111, -5.56831
In one line
The northern gate of the Meknes medina, built under Moulay Ismail in the late 17th century. Flanked by two square bastion towers and richly dressed in zellij and carved decoration, it once controlled all trade and travel coming from the north.

14. Bab el-Khemis

Coordinates
33.8914, -5.57241
In one line
A finely decorated gate west of the Meknes medina, completed in 1686 or 1687 under Moulay Ismail. Named for the Thursday market, it once led to the city's Jewish quarter and the garden district housing the sultan's army and court.

15. Bab Moulay Ismail

Coordinates
33.8915, -5.5638
In one line
A late 17th-century ceremonial gate into the royal quarter of Moulay Ismail's imperial city, set near Place Lalla Aouda. Its tall arch marks the threshold between the medina's public squares and the vast palace grounds beyond.

16. Sahrij Swani

Coordinates
33.8815, -5.557
In one line
A vast rectangular reservoir built in the late 17th century under Moulay Ismail, stretching roughly 319 by 149 meters. It stored irrigation and siege water for the imperial city and doubled as a serene royal pleasure lake.

17. Koubbat as-Sufara

Coordinates
33.8907, -5.5635
In one line
A 17th-century reception pavilion where Moulay Ismail received foreign ambassadors amid zellij tilework and carved stucco. Beneath the square in front lie vast underground vaulted chambers, long imagined as a prison but most likely used for storage.

18. Roua Stables

Coordinates
33.883, -5.559
In one line
The ruined royal stables of Moulay Ismail, built in the late 17th century beside the great granaries. Long arcades once sheltered thousands of horses for the sultan's cavalry, their broken arches now marching toward the horizon.

19. Barrima Mosque

Coordinates
33.8895, -5.562
In one line
An 18th-century royal mosque commissioned by Sultan Muhammad ibn Abdallah, set on the edge of the palace grounds near the Mellah. Its unusual plan favors a wide royal square over a courtyard, with a deliberately low minaret.

20. Dar Adiyel

Coordinates
33.8945, -5.5655
In one line
A grand merchant's house of the late 17th or early 18th century, named for Abd al-Khaliq Adiyil, an official under Moulay Ismail. Its courtyard, fountain, carved stucco, and zellij later sheltered a conservatory of Andalusian music.

21. El Hedim Square

Coordinates
33.8937, -5.5656
In one line
The great public square of Meknes, cleared by Moulay Ismail in the 1670s after he demolished houses to front his palace. Today it buzzes with cafes, entertainers, and a food market, framed by the monumental gate Bab Mansour.

22. Lalla Aouda Mosque

Coordinates
33.8902, -5.5623
In one line
The Lalla Aouda Mosque stands at the edge of the imperial kasbah, rebuilt by Sultan Moulay Ismail around 1677 on a Marinid foundation. Its green-tiled minaret rises over the broad square that shares its name.

23. Medina of Meknes

Coordinates
33.8955, -5.567
In one line
The Medina of Meknes is the old walled city, founded by the Almoravids in the 11th century and rebuilt across later dynasties. A dense maze of souks, mosques, and gates, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

24. Agdal Basin

Coordinates
33.885, -5.558
In one line
The Agdal Basin is a vast rectangular reservoir built by Sultan Moulay Ismail in the late 17th century. Measuring roughly 149 by 319 meters, it stored irrigation and siege water for the imperial city and once carried small pleasure boats.

25. Meknes Royal Military Academy

Coordinates
33.8845, -5.554
In one line
The Meknes Royal Military Academy trains officers for Morocco's armed forces. Founded in 1918 under the French protectorate and became the Royal Military Academy in 1956, it occupies the 18th-century Dar al-Bayda Palace within the former imperial kasbah.

26. Najjarine Mosque

Coordinates
33.896, -5.566
In one line
The Najjarine Mosque is reputed to be among the oldest mosques in Meknes, with origins in the Almoravid period. Its minaret dates from the late 12th century, and the building has been modified many times across its long medieval life.

27. Dar el-Beida Palace

Coordinates
33.884, -5.556
In one line
The Dar el-Beida, or White Palace, is an 18th-century royal residence built by Sultan Mohammed III within the imperial kasbah's Agdal Garden. Once a refined retreat among water and greenery, it now houses Morocco's Royal Military Academy.

28. Ville Nouvelle (Hamria)

Coordinates
33.894, -5.54
In one line
The Ville Nouvelle, known as Hamria, is the modern quarter of Meknes, laid out by French planners after 1912 on a plateau across the valley from the medina. Wide avenues, cafes, and civic buildings give it a brisk, contemporary rhythm.

29. Moulay Ismail University

Coordinates
33.887, -5.538
In one line
Founded in 1989 and named for the sultan who made Meknes his capital, Moulay Ismail University spreads across faculties and schools in Meknes and Errachidia, teaching roughly 38,000 students in Arabic, French, and English.

30. Meknes Railway Station

Coordinates
33.896, -5.535
In one line
In the Ville Nouvelle district of Hamria, Meknes is served by ONCF rail. The main Meknes Ville station and the smaller Amir Abdelkader stop link the city by hourly trains to Fes, Rabat, Casablanca, and the wider network.

31. Mellah of Meknes

Coordinates
33.892, -5.57
In one line
Created under Sultan Moulay Ismail, who ruled from 1672 to 1727, the Mellah was the walled Jewish quarter of Meknes, set to the west near the kasbah. Two historic synagogues survive, including the Toledano synagogue.

32. Lahboul Garden

Coordinates
33.8945, -5.559
In one line
It is one of the city's favorite green retreats for families and walkers.

33. Place El Hedim Market & Souks

Coordinates
33.8933, -5.5645
In one line
The great square at the edge of the medina, Place el-Hedim takes its name, meaning the rubble, from Moulay Ismail's demolitions. Lined by souks and food stalls, it is the social heart of old Meknes, busy with entertainers by evening.

34. Boufekrane Valley

Coordinates
33.895, -5.553
In one line
The valley of the Oued Boufekrane cuts between the old medina and the French-built new town of Hamria. Its water shaped the city for centuries, and in 1937 a dispute over diverting it sparked a deadly revolt against colonial rule.

35. Sidi Said Quarter

Coordinates
33.897, -5.571
In one line
One of the residential quarters of Meknes, Sidi Said takes its name, like many Moroccan neighborhoods, from a local holy figure.

36. Berrima Quarter

Coordinates
33.889, -5.5615
In one line
Berrima is a historic quarter wedged between the old medina and the kasbah of Moulay Ismail, just west of Place el-Hedim. Its lanes border the former Jewish mellah laid out in the late 17th century.

37. Ouislane

Coordinates
33.9107, -5.4866
In one line
Ouislane, known in Amazigh as Wislan, is a fast-growing town and municipality in Meknès Prefecture. Its population reached roughly 88,000 by the 2014 census, making it one of the prefecture's largest urban communities outside Meknes itself.

38. Meknès Prefecture

Coordinates
33.895, -5.5547
In one line
Meknès Prefecture is the administrative subdivision built around the imperial city. Created in 2003 within the Fès-Meknès region, it spans roughly 1,786 square kilometers across the Saiss plain and counts close to a million residents.

39. Place du 11 Janvier

Coordinates
33.8935, -5.543
In one line
Place du 11 Janvier is a civic square in modern Meknes named for the 11 January 1944 Manifesto of Independence. Like many Moroccan squares bearing the date, it honors the demand that ended the French protectorate.

40. Sidi Bouzekri

Coordinates
33.885, -5.545
In one line
Sidi Bouzekri is a residential district of Meknes, named in the Moroccan tradition for a local holy figure. Today it is a busy modern neighborhood, one of the many quarters that make up the living city beyond its monuments.

Roots Earth in short

Roots Earth has audio stories about 5,665 places in 130 cities, 25 countries and 6 regions, written by local people.

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