Imperial City of Moulay Ismail

When Moulay Ismail moved the capital to Meknes in 1672, he embarked on one of the most ambitious building programs in history. Over 55 years, he constructed 25 kilometers of walls, 20 palaces, stables for 12,000 horses, granaries that could feed an army for years, and the vast Heri es-Souani — a system of underground reservoirs and gardens. He used materials stripped from El Badi Palace in Marrakech and ruins from Roman Volubilis. European ambassadors compared it to Versailles. After his death in 1727, the 1755 earthquake destroyed much of it, but the scale remains staggering.