The Marinid Tombs or Merenid Tombs refers to the ruins of monumental tombs on a hill above and north of Fes al-Bali, the old city ofFez, Morocco. Today, they are also a popular lookout point over the historic city.
Historical background
There is sparse information available on the site and its history. However, the ruined tombs are believed to date from the 14th century, during the Marinid dynasty, hence their name. The Marinids conquered Fez in 1250 and turned it into their capital, eventually cementing this status by building a new fortified palace-city, Fes el-Jdid, in 1276 alongside the existing old city. Before the foundation of Fes el-Jdid, however, some sources describe the Marinids has having already established their first fortified palace on the hill to the north of Fes el-Bali known as al-Qula. This palace also included a mosque and a bathhouse. Some sources attribute these structures, or a predecessor of these structures, to the earlier reign of the Almohad caliphMuhammad al-Nasir, who was also responsible for rebuilding the city walls. Another author attributes the construction of the al-Qula palace to after 1287, around the same time that the Marinids created the Mosara Garden to the north of Fes el-Jdid. While it has not been possible to reconstruct the layout and appearance of the palace, the historical chronicler Leo Africanus claimed that the palace was impressive. A royal necropolis eventually developed on this site, where some other tombs may have already existed as early as the 11th and 12th centuries. Up until the middle of the 14th century the Marinid dynasty buried its members in the royal necropolis at Chellah, just outside Rabat. Sultan Abu Inan, however, was interred in the Grand Mosque of Fes el-Jdid upon his death in 1358 and after this his successors were buried in the necropolis on the al-Qula hill next to the Marinid palace there. They continued to be interred here between 1361 and 1398 or up until the demise of the dynasty. To this day, no rigorous archaeological excavations have yet been carried out on the site of the tombs. Unfortunately, very few remnants of the Marinid palace complex here have survived, in part due to continuousquarrying over the centuries and to more recent constructions.
Description of the site
Today the ruins of two tall rectangular-base mausoleums with large horseshoe-arch entrances are still visible, and perhaps the remains of other structures. It is not known exactly who was buried in the large mausoleums but given their monumentality they were probably members of the royal family. Some fragments of carved stucco decoration and an inscription can still be seen on the walls of the mausoleums, which is all that remains of their once rich ornamentation. The historical writer Leo Africanus mentioned that the tombs were heavily decorated and featured lavish and colourful marble epitaphs. The site was probably once enclosed by a wall, giving it the form of a rawda, an enclosed funerary garden or private cemetery in the Islamic tradition. Behind the two mausoleums are also the ruins of another small domed building or qoubba that may have been part of the Merinid necropolis as well. The hillsides around the tombs are still occupied by the sprawling Bab Guissa Cemetery, though the graves visible today are likely much more recent. Today the site is perhaps best known as a lookout with panoramic views over the old city of Fez, popular at sunset, and often mentioned in guidebooks and tourist literature. In addition to the views, it is also a notable place to hear the call to prayer broadcasting simultaneously from all the mosques in the old city.
