Rabat, the capital of Morocco, shows two distinct faces existing side-by-side. There is the modern, French-inspired town, with wide tree-lined boulevards, cafes and bistros, peopled by hard-working government officials. And there is historic Rabat, centred on the 12th century walled medina of the Almohad sultans. Here, Sultan Yacoub el Mansour began work on a mosque that was designed to rival that of Samarra in Iraq, at the time the largest in the world. All that remains today is a forest of columns and the lower section of a huge Moroccan-style minaret, each massive side covered in delicate carvings.
Nearby is the mausoleum of King Mohammed V, who led the country to independence from the French. Slightly further from the centre of town is the Chellah, tombs of the Merenid dynasty, now a wonderfully atmospheric, crumbling set of ruins where storks nest atop truncated minarets, and odd patches of dramatic tile-work appear through overflowing vegetation.