The gate's original name was as Bab es-Sebaa, probably in reference to a carved image or motif of a lion that has since disappeared. Originally, the name "Bab Dekkakin" was actually the name of what is now the gate to the Royal Palace itself, which was formerly the main entrance to the city before the palace expanded to this point. Only later did the name come to designate Bab es-Sebaa. The name Bab Dekkakin means "Gate of the Benches" and is a reference to the previous existence of benches along the sides of the gate where those who were granted an audience inside the Palace would wait until called upon.
History
Fes el-Jdid was founded in 1276 by Sultan Abu Yusuf Ya'qub as the new capital of the Marinid Sultanate as a separate agglomeration overlooking the nearby older city of Fes. The city included the sultan's royal palace, which has served as the residence of the rulers of Morocco during many periods and is still used on occasion by the King of Morocco today. Bab Dekkakin dates from the original Marinid foundation in 1276 and was part of the main northern entrance to the city. Its layout was highly defensive and it originally had a bent entrance. Flanked by two pairs of tall square towers, some scholars believe that the outer towers, higher than the inner ones, were added to the gate in 1286 during the construction of the aqueduct that supplied water to the Marinid royal gardens to the north of the city. The towers may have been intended partly to protect both the aqueduct and the huge noria which raised water to it and which would have been almost as tall as the towers themselves. The gate gave access to what is now the Old Mechouar, an open square enclosed by ramparts which served as a waiting area or ceremonial approach to the palace gates. Originally, this square actually served as a fortified bridge over the Oued Fes. At its south end was the Bab el-Oued or Bab al-Qantara, the main gate into the city, which later became the gate of the Royal Palace when the latter expanded up to this point. The mechouar area, much like the palace, has been modified and expanded over the centuries. On the north side of Bab Dekkakin, the New Mechouar, larger than the old one, was created either by the Alaouite Sultan Moulay Muhammad ibn Abdallah during his reign or by the later Alaouite sultan Moulay Hassan. On the western side of the square is a gateway in the Italianate architectural style which belongs to the Makina, a former arms factory established by Moulay Hassan in 1886 with the help of Italian officers. Originally, this western wall was actually a large Marinid aqueduct built in 1287 to carry water to the Mosara Garden; the faint outline of its arches can still be seen today along the surface of the wall. The northern gate of the New Mechouar, across from Bab Dekkakin, known as Bab Kbibat es-Smen'', also dates from this 1886 construction, though another gate called Bab Segma once stood near here and its name is still used as a toponym for the area. at the New Mechouar, in front of Bab Dekkakin.|alt=|left Bab Dekkakin itself was restored and modified in 1884. In particular, the gate's central arch was opened up to provide a straight or direct passage across it instead of the original bent entrance, in order to facilitate circulation. In or after 1912, another passage or archway was opened on the east side of the central arch and was given a similar decorative outline as the western archway in order to create visual symmetry. The overall form of the gate, however, including the massive towers flanking it, appear to be original from the Marinid period. Up to the early 20th century, there was also a prison attached to Bab Dekkakin, where prisoners serving long sentences were kept. Today, the gate also serves as a backdrop for performances taking place inside the New Mechouar during the annual World Sacred Music Festival.
Architecture
The gate's inner side faces the Old Mechouar and the northeastern gate to the Royal Palace, historically the main entrance to the palace grounds. Its outer facade faces the New Mechouar. The gate is made of masonry stone and brick and set between two pairs of massive square towers that are indicative of Marinid military architecture. The interior passage of the gate is composed of several horseshoe archways arranged at the thresholds of three sequential chambers. The middle chamber is open to the sky above; a defensive feature from the original gate which allowed defenders to shoot or drop projectiles on attackers inside the gate's passage. In addition to this central passage, however, are two other side passages through smaller archways on the gate's outer facade and through equal-sized archways on its inner facade. This symmetrical arrangement is a result of modern modifications to the gate to ease circulation. The original gate had a bent entrance: from the central opening on its north side, the gate's inside passage turned 90 degrees twice and emerged at what is now the westernmost archway on the Old Mechouar side. The gate's outer facade is also its most richly decorated. The outline of the central archway is decorated with a molding sculpted in a repeating semi-circular motif. The spandrels above this are filled with tiles painted with interlacing arabesque patterns. All of this is in turn surrounded by a rectangular frame consisting of a band or frieze carved into a darj wa-ktaf motif. Above the central archway is a panel of tiles featuring an elaborate Arabic inscription. The two lateral archways on the gate's inner facade are decorated with a simple semi-circular molding like the one around the central archway of the outer side, but otherwise there is little decoration on this facade.
