# Roots Earth in Meknes: audio stories about 40 places Canonical: https://rootsearth.com/cities/meknes Published: 16 September 2026 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. ## 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. - No account - Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection - Audio stories in English and German in every city, and in Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian in 126 of the 130 cities Roots Earth for Android is available on Google Play: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rootsearth.app](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rootsearth.app). ## More from Roots Earth - [Africa in the Roots Earth catalogue](https://rootsearth.com/cities#africa): every city in Africa with its number of places and its languages. - [What Roots Earth is](https://rootsearth.com/app): the app in one page, how it works and what is in it. - [Questions travellers ask](https://rootsearth.com/faq): the cities, the languages, the account, listening without a connection. - [The 7 languages](https://rootsearth.com/languages): the seven languages with their codes and how many cities each one covers. - [Casablanca](https://rootsearth.com/cities/casablanca): 44 places in Morocco with audio stories. - [Fez](https://rootsearth.com/cities/fez): 46 places in Morocco with audio stories. - [Marrakech](https://rootsearth.com/cities/marrakech): 48 places in Morocco with audio stories. - [Rabat](https://rootsearth.com/cities/rabat): 44 places in Morocco with audio stories. 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