Town walk · Meknes · Morocco
Mohammed ben Larbi Jamai
c.1840–1897 · a real person
a fallen grand vizier, courteous and ironic, proud of good workmanship, still stung by how quickly friends became silent
Read what Mohammed ben Larbi Jamai says
Peace be upon you. I am Mohammed ben Larbi Jamai, and once my word moved armies and taxes in this kingdom. The house in front of you was ours: we finished it in 1882, with cedar ceilings I paid for twice because the first carpenter cheated me. Then the sultan died, and in one week we had no office, no house, no friends. Walk with me across Meknes and I will show you exactly where each thing was taken.
Meknes · 5 stops · 1.8 km
about 19 min walking, 24 min listening at the stops — going inside is extra · Tap a stop on the map for a preview.
Where it takes you
1 / 4
Best time to walk: Early morning or after 5pm — Place El-Hedim is fully exposed at midday, and the souk is calmest before 10am. Prison Kara keeps museum hours, so go before late afternoon if you want to go down inside.
43 min · 1.8 km · 5 stops · medium
You’re walking this one before anyone at Walk & Tell has. If something looks wrong, tap Report at any stop — we’ll fix it for everyone after you.
Partly shadedBest time to walk: Early morning or after 5pm — Place El-Hedim is fully exposed at midday, and the souk is calmest before 10am. Prison Kara keeps museum hours, so go before late afternoon if you want to go down inside.
The walk
Meknes in the 1880s and 90s, seen by a man who rose to the top of the sultan's government and then lost everything in a week. The walk runs from his family's ornate palace on the edge of the old city, through the food souk and the great square, down into the prison pit, past the royal mosque, and up to the walls of the palace where power actually lived. No puzzles: just a story told stop by stop, with things to notice at each one. It is one short line across dense, walkable ground from the medina into the kasbah.
Start here
Rue Sekakine, Qobbat Souk قبة السوق
Stand at the north-west corner of Place El-Hedim, at the entrance gate of the Dar Jamai Museum, facing its doorway.
Directions
