Morocco's imperial cities, explained

Morocco is usually said to have four imperial cities: Fez, Marrakech, Meknes, and Rabat. Each one served as the political capital of a ruling dynasty at some point in the country's history; it's not an official title anyone holds today.

Fez was founded by the Idrisid dynasty in the 8th and 9th centuries, and later flourished under the Marinids, who built much of the madrasa architecture the medina is still known for. Marrakech rose under the Almoravids in the 11th century, then was rebuilt and expanded by the Almohads and, later, the Saadians, whose tombs still sit within the city walls. Meknes owes its monumental scale almost entirely to one ruler: the 17th-century Alaouite sultan Moulay Ismail, who built it on a scale meant to rival Versailles. Rabat's imperial status goes back further, to the Almohads, but its role as the modern capital dates specifically to 1912, under the French protectorate.

Each city wears that history differently. Fez feels the most continuously medieval. Marrakech mixes imperial-era monuments into a busier, more modern city around them. Meknes is quieter and less visited despite its scale. Rabat feels the most like a working capital, government buildings standing next to historic ones.

An "imperial cities" route, typically Fez, Meknes, and Marrakech, with Rabat sometimes added, is one of the more common ways to build a Morocco trip around architecture and history instead of desert or coast.