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Bab Doukkala

Bab Doukkala is the main north-west gate of the Marrakesh medina wall. It dates from around 1126, when the Almoravid emir Ali ibn Yusuf built the city's first walls. Its name refers to the Doukkala, a Berber tribe and region located between Marrakesh and Casablanca. It keeps its original bent-entrance plan: the passage turns twice at right angles, so that anyone entering from the west goes south and then east to reach the inside of the city. Its plan has hardly been altered. Today the gate is flanked by simpler openings cut into the wall to ease traffic, and the main intercity bus station lies just outside, slightly to the north. It should not be confused with the Bab Doukkala Mosque, built later inside the medina.

Things to do at Bab Doukkala: 3 missions

• Photograph the outer façade of Bab DoukkalaStand outside the wall, facing the west façade, and frame the whole gate.
• Pass through the gate's bent entranceWalk through the passage inside and count the two right-angle turns that forced anyone entering to slow down.
• Look at the inner façade from the medinaOnce inside the medina, turn round and photograph the east façade of the gate.

Near Bab Doukkala

Source: Wikipedia - Bab Doukkala