Facing the Hassan Tower across the same great esplanade, the Mausoleum of Mohammed V holds the tombs of Morocco's independence-era king and his two sons, King Hassan II and Prince Abdallah. Mohammed V, who led the country to independence from France in 1956, died in 1961; the mausoleum built in his honour was completed in 1971 after a decade of work by hundreds of Moroccan master craftsmen.
It is considered a showpiece of modern Moroccan-Alaouite craftsmanship. A pyramidal roof of green tiles — the colour of Islam and of the Alaouite dynasty — tops a building sheathed in white Italian marble, its interior a jewel box of carved cedar, sculpted plaster, gilded ceilings and dense zellij mosaic. From a railed gallery visitors look down onto the sober white onyx sarcophagus below, where a reader often recites from the Quran. The whole complex is watched over by royal guards in ceremonial dress, some mounted, who are a photograph in themselves.
Entry is free and, unusually for a working royal tomb, non-Muslims are welcome inside the gallery. A private driver lets you combine it seamlessly with the Hassan Tower on the same esplanade and the nearby kasbah, arriving door-to-door rather than negotiating the one-way streets and parking around the site.
Highlights
- The white-marble tomb chamber with its carved cedar and gilded ceiling
- The onyx sarcophagus of Mohammed V viewed from the upper gallery
- Intricate zellij tilework and sculpted plaster by Moroccan master artisans
- The green pyramidal roof, symbolic of the Alaouite dynasty
- Ceremonial royal guards, several on horseback, at the entrances
- Its direct setting facing the Hassan Tower across the esplanade
Best Time to Visit
Visit in the morning alongside the Hassan Tower opposite, and dress modestly as this is an active royal mausoleum.