Heri es-Souani

Moulay Ismail kept 12,000 horses. The Heri es-Souani was their stable — a vast complex of granaries and stalls designed by a Christian slave architect to keep the royal army fed and mounted. The scale is industrial. Massive walls, thick enough to regulate temperature. Underground channels that brought water from the Middle Atlas. Ventilation shafts in the vaulted roofs. The engineering was as ambitious as the architecture; both served warfare. Most of the complex is ruined now — the 1755 earthquake damaged Meknes as badly as it damaged Lisbon. What remains suggests the whole: enormous, functional, designed for horses rather than humans. The Agdal Basin next door held the water supply. Best time: Any time (mostly covered) Allow: 45 minutes Combine with: Agdal Basin and Moulay Ismail Mausoleum