Royal Stables — Attraction in Al Machouar – Stinia

DURING THE REIGN OF SULTAN Moulay Ismail, between 1672 and 1727, the medieval city of Meknes served as Morocco’s capital. While his royal palace was largely destroyed by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, a nearby magnificent structure now referred to as the Royal Stables has survived to this day, beautifully preserved.

Stories abound about the 12,000 horses the Sultan kept there and how his love for them assured they were well tended to, but in fact the edifice was NEVER A STABLE.* A fanciful tale that has been perpetuated for decades by local guides, in guidebooks, on the web and on maps until today, but the complex was strictly an immense granary, as the translation of Heri es-Souani indicates. Fearing an attack on his capital, Moulay Ismail wanted to ensure there would be enough grain in storage to feed his horses and the city’s population for up to a year-long siege. Thus the granary was constantly repleted by caravans carrying grain from the wheat-growing Tadla plains...

We payed I think 70 each to go visit the royal stables. It was closed or something so we had to climb over a high wooden fence to look at the stables? Like thanks for letting us view it while closed but also it was a strange experience. My mom I think damaged a small part of clothing when flipping over the fence. She's 50+ years old and not something she should have had to do.

We payed like 150 for a tour guide at the end but we feel like it wasn't that helpful. I had a hard time understanding his english and he didn't say very much. We didn't request the tour guide, but he kinda joined us at the end and expected us to pay him. We felt like this was pretty unfair.

I feel like the royal stables is definitely worth a visit, but refuse the tour and read about it online instead. I think some weird stuff is happening with part of it being closed too. Strange...

As it stands currently it's interesting if you're in town for a couple days. But not worth the visit otherwise.

Over half of the stables are not open to the public. There are also no signs or explanations so you don't get much of an experience if you're walking in blind.

But if you know a bit of history or if you googled things before walking in, the whole place takes on a new significance. The Royal stables used to house 12,000 horses at one point. Each with its own groom and slave and little cubby. The stables had running water and enough stores to feed the horses for years.

That's all really cool and all, but it's not worth the ticket price and trip to just see empty rooms now. Spruce...