The lights go on in Meknès.

It would be unfair to describe the relationship between Fez and Meknès as competitive, but probably true to say that the beautiful smaller city has suffered in the shade of its big sister. That is not to say that Meknès is without its charms and indeed, those foreigners looking for houses in Morocco, who can not afford a house in Fez, or simply prefer a smaller city, have often headed to Meknès. Is there a sensitivity on the side of those who live in Meknès? I'll leave you to answer that, but I do find it interesting that all Government media releases about Meknès take care to describe it as being "138km east of Rabat" , rather than "a stone's throw from the glorious Medina of Fez". Or, "...a place to get lunch when going for a day trip to the Roman city of Volubilis."

Well, today comes the good news that HM King Mohammed VI, after several days of launching some great projects in the Imperial city of Fez, has headed to Meknès and launched a project to build and equip an electricity generator for the city. The project will cost some 4.5 million USD and will help to meet the increasing demand for electricity in the city in the short, medium and long run.

The King also received a briefing on progress on a liquid sanitation project, which includes building a purification station for used water. This 12 million USD project is intended to reduce the level of used water pollution by 40% in autumn and by 60% to 70% in summer. It is not certain when it will come on line, but for the next little while I would stick to drinking Sidi Ali while in Meknès.


Now, having stimulated your appetite, you are probably bursting to head to Meknès for a quick look. So here are a few suggestions.

There is a wonderful souq where the stallholders take great pride in artistic displays of their produce. Do buy some Saffron here, as it is the best and cheapest I have found in all Morocco. The city is surrounded by 2,5 kilomètres of ramparts, entered by six gates and containing some fabulous monuments, such as Dar El Makhzen palace, the Sidi Saïd mosque, Bab El Berdaine, Bab El Khémis, Bab El Mansour, Bab Jemaâ En Nouar, the Moulay Ismaïl Mausoleum and the Kouba El Khayatine, Meknès offers impressive views of the Agdal basin. My personal favourite is the old stables - simply stunning.

And also... read up on the colourful Sultan Moulay Ismail, who charmingly described his subjects this way: "My subjects are like rats in a basket, and if I don't shake the basket, they will gnaw their way out." And shake the basket he did. He tried desperately to compete with Fez but despite killing 30,000 of his subjects and working some 25,000 Christian slaves to death ( many of whom were interred in the walls), and lopping off the heads of slaves just for fun, he failed to match the glories of Fez. He took solace in his women and from his harem of some 500 he fathered 800 children. Doing a DNA study of Meknès citizens might well prove very interesting.

Of course, being a well wired city, Meknès has its own wonderful bloggers. I was looking up a link for you from our sister-in-blogging Taamarbuuta and, just when I am singing the praises of her wonderful city, discovered she had this to say about why she blogs: Part of it, of course, is the fact that I live in Meknès- a city not exactly known for its charm or excitement. But surely, there's something to do here, and I travel often enough that it couldn't possibly be boredom that pushes me to my computer every night?

Oh dear. I am sure she doesn't really mean it. You will find Taamarbuuta here on The Morocco Report.

And for those of you who want to spend a wild night in the modern centre of Meknès, here is our Meknès Bar Guide!

Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news