Bab er-Rouah


Bab er-Rouah is a monumental gate in the Almohad-era ramparts of Rabat, Morocco. It was built by the Almohad caliph Ya'qub al-Mansur in the late 12th century, as part of the monumental capital he started building here. The gate and its adjoining ramparts were finished by 1197.
The gate is notable for its defensive structure as well as for its rich stone-carved decoration which is comparable to other monumental Almohad gates such as Bab Oudaia to the north and to Bab Agnaou in Marrakesh. The gate's exterior entrance is flanked by two bastion towers. The archway of the entrance was partially filled-in with a smaller arch under the Alaouite sultan Muhammad ibn Abdallah in the second half of the 18th century. The gate's interior passage passes through four chambers and turns 90 degrees four times, constituting a complex bent entrance typical of Almohad military architecture.
Today the gate's interior has been converted into an art gallery. It was recently renovated in 2000–2001.