Spacious Granary in Meknès
The Bassin Souani was a surprising find here in Meknès. It is a large pool of water which used to be a reservoir. These days it is just a tourist attraction but there is much more to know about this place than just taking photos of it. The pool or former reservoir is actually part of the complex which was built near the royal palace. Sultan Moulay Ismail made Meknès the capital of his kingdom and just went out building magnificent structures in the city. Naturally, the first one was his royal palace. However, not too far behind are the royal stables. I initially thought that the royal stables were meant to house his army’s horses because of how large it is. However, I was wrong.
Inside the Royal Granary in Meknès
The sultan is a huge lover of horses and probably treats the horses better than he does his slaves. He loves the horses so much that he built a massive stable for them. How do you ensure that the horses get clean water? That’s what the nearby reservoir is for. Water from the reservoir is diverted into the stables to provide water to the horses. How do you feed them? There is a lot grain for them, but they need a place to store them so it doesn’t rot quickly. So they decided to build a massive granary to store the horse feed. The dark interiors and the thick walls ensure that the granary remains cool inside, thus helping extend the life of grains. These days, there is very little to indicate the that this place was actually a granary. Inside was dark and there was no literature inside to tell you what it was. It was actually quite underwhelming to see this place since you will effectively be just walking down the halls of the granary without even knowing that it is one.
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