Sijilmassa

Sijilmassa was the first independent Arab and Islamic city in Morocco, founded in 757 AD on the edge of the Tafilalt oasis as the northern terminus of the trans-Saharan caravan trade. For half a millennium it was one of the wealthiest cities in the western Islamic world; today it is a five-minute drive west of Rissani and consists mostly of low mud-brick walls, the shell of a 14th-century gate, and a long mosque foundation traced in the dust.

The site is unfenced and free, and a guide is essential to make any sense of what you are looking at — the active archaeological dig of the 1990s has long since wound down and there is almost no signage. The atmosphere is the main draw: the palms, the wind, and the absence of crowds. Come at sunset.

things to do sight
A story
Sijilmassa was for six hundred years the northern terminus of the great trans-Saharan gold caravan, the place where the camel trains coming up from Ghana and Mali unloaded gold dust and slaves into the hands of Mediterranean traders. At its peak in the 11th century it minted dinars that circulated as far away as Cairo and Cordoba. The city died for reasons still debated — civil war, abandonment, a shifting trade route — and by the 18th century only a few walls remained above the date palms.

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