Rabat Travel Guide

St Peter's Church stands on the east side of Leuven's Great Market Square, built in the 15th century as a model of Brabantine Gothic. Soft ground beneath meant its three planned towers were never finished — the low, stubby silhouette is now its unmistakable signature. Inside hangs the masterpiece Last Supper triptych by the Flemish painter Dieric Bouts, along with the gilded copper effigy and tomb of Duke Henry I of Brabant; the church joined the UNESCO-listed bguinage ensemble in 1999. Facing the flamboyant Gothic town hall across the square, the pair forms one of Belgium's finest medieval ensembles. Afterwards, order a Stella Artois — brewed here — in one of the square's old taverns.

Hassan Tower is an ancient, majestic unfinished minaret in Rabat, a red-ochre tower beside a forest of columns from an unfinished mosque - ancient and weighty, a solemn sight in Rabat. Built in the Almohad period (medieval), it was meant to be part of a vast mosque (said to be among the world's largest). After the ruler's death the work stopped, leaving the tower at about 40 m. The tower is built of local red-ochre stone with fine Islamic geometric carving. Beside it lie the ruins of the unfinished mosque - a vast field of truncated red-ochre columns. At the far end stands the Mausoleum of Mohammed V.

The Kasbah of the Udayas stands at the mouth of the Bou Regreg river in Rabat, a defensive citadel begun by the Almohads in the 12th century. Blue-and-white lanes and an Andalusian garden overlook the estuary — Rabat's most poetic, slow-stroll old corner, often called a 'blue-and-white town in the air'.

The Chellah lies outside Rabat, layering Neolithic, Roman Sala Colonia and Merinid ruins. Broken columns, royal tombs and a wetland park meet — a quiet fold in time across two millennia, and the best spot for birdwatching and recalling the ancient city. Surviving Roman column bases sit beside Merinid tombs; wildflowers and birds along the path give the ruins quiet life.

The Rabat Medina, in Morocco's capital Rabat, dates to the 17th century and uses a relatively regular, grid-like street layout. Small enough to cover in half a day, it is also intricate enough that you can easily get lost. The main shopping street is Rue Souika - its western section geared to local vendors and everyday goods, while the covered market Souq As Sebbat at the eastern end sells tourist souvenirs. Rue des Consuls, once home to foreign consuls, remains the street of choice for fine traditional handicrafts. Compared with the medinas of larger cities, this one feels calmer and more commercially welcoming.

The Mausoleum of Mohammed V is Rabat's most important and magnificent memorial, standing opposite the Hassan Tower. This white marble mausoleum, built in the 1960s, holds King Mohammed V, founder of modern Morocco, and his son King Hassan II. It is built in traditional Moroccan style: white marble walls, a green glazed-tile dome, fine cedar woodcarving and colourful zellige mosaic tiles, with a richly ornate interior. Mohammed V led Morocco's independence from French colonial rule in 1956 and is honoured as the father of Moroccan independence. Opposite stands the unfinished 12th-century Hassan Tower. Admission is free, and visitors can look down into the tomb chamber from an upper balcony.