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{{short description|Public square or area of a palace in North Africa}}
{{For|the municipality of Casablanca|Mechouar, Casablanca}}
[[File:Meknes (4737470997).jpg|thumb|Place Lalla Aouda, a former mechouar in [[Meknes]], [[Morocco]] (part of the 17th–18th century [[Kasbah of Moulay Ismail]])]]
'''Mechouar''' or '''meshwar''' ({{Langx|ar|مشور|translit=mashwar, meshwar}}; {{Langx|es|mexuar}}; {{Langx|fr|méchouar}}) is a type of location, typically a [[courtyard]] within a palace or a [[public square]] at the entrance of a palace, in the [[Maghreb]] (western [[North Africa]]) or in historic [[al-Andalus]] (Muslim [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]]). It can serve various functions such as a place of assembly or consultation (Arabic: ''michawara''), an administrative area where the government's affairs are managed. It was the place where the sultan historically held audiences, receptions and ceremonies.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7touAQAAIAAJ&q=Mechouar+tlemcen|title=Tlemcen, au passé retrouvé|last=Abadie|first=Louis|date=1994-01-01|publisher=Editions J. Gandini|isbn=9782906431027|language=fr}}</ref><ref name=":32">{{Cite book|last=Arnold|first=Felix|title=Islamic Palace Architecture in the Western Mediterranean: A History|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2017|isbn=9780190624552}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=A Dictionary of Moroccan Arabic|publisher=Georgetown University Press|year=2004|isbn=9781589011038|editor-last=Harrell|editor-first=Richard S.|pages=88|editor-last2=Sobelman|editor-first2=Harvey}}</ref> The name is sometimes also given to a larger area encompassing the palace, such as the [[citadel]] or royal district of a city.<ref name=":0522">{{Cite book|last1=Bel|first1=A.|title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|last2=Yalaoui|first2=M.|publisher=Brill|year=2012|editor-last=Bearman|editor-first=P.|chapter=Tilimsān|editor-last2=Bianquis|editor-first2=Th.|editor-last3=Bosworth|editor-first3=C.E.|editor-last4=van Donzel|editor-first4=E.|editor-last5=Heinrichs|editor-first5=W.P.}}</ref><ref name=":24">{{Cite book|title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780195309911|editor-last=M. Bloom|editor-first=Jonathan|chapter=Architecture|editor-last2=S. Blair|editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref>
== History ==
[[File:Córdoba-Medinat al-Zahra-Gran pórtico y Plaza de armas-20110917.jpg|left|thumb|Remains of a monumental [[portico]] at the old public entrance of [[Medina Azahara|Madinat al-Zahra]] (10th century), [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]], on the edge of a large plaza which may have been analogous to a ''mechouar''<ref name=":32" />]]
An official public square or ceremonial space often existed in front of the main entrance or gate of early royal palaces in al-Andalus and North Africa, though the term ''meshwar'' was not necessarily used to designate them in historical sources. Notable examples include the square in front of the ''Bab al-Sudda'' gate of the [[Alcázar of the Caliphs (Córdoba)|Umayyad Palaces]] (8th-10th centuries) of [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]], [[Spain]], where [[public execution]]s took place and where the [[Caliphate of Córdoba|caliph]] would stand or sit on a viewing platform built above the palace gate,<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Marçais|first=Georges|title=L'architecture musulmane d'Occident|publisher=Arts et métiers graphiques|year=1954|location=Paris|pages=153–154}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=The andalusi Alcazar|url=http://www.arqueocordoba.com/en/historia/medieval/alcazar-andalusi/|access-date=2020-10-08|website=ArqueoCordoba|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":32" /> as well as the ceremonial ''[[Bayn al-Qasrayn]]'' square in front of the Golden Gate (''Bab al-Dhahab'') of the [[Fatimid Great Palaces|Fatimid Palaces]] in [[Cairo]], [[Egypt]], where the Fatimid caliph also had a balcony above the gate from which to watch ceremonies below.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|last=Brett|first=Michael|title=The Fatimid Empire|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2017|location=Edinburgh}}</ref><ref name="Raymond1993">Raymond, André. 1993. ''Le Caire''. Fayard.</ref> A similar square or open space also existed at the entrance of the palace-city of [[Medina Azahara|Madinat al-Zahra]] (10th century), at the end of the road that led to it from nearby Cordoba.<ref name=":32" />{{Rp|76}} A couple of centuries later a main public square, known as the ''asaraq'', was also included within the [[Kasbah of Marrakesh]] built by the [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohads]] at the end of the 12th century. It was situated within the administrative and service section of the citadel but it also gave access to the entrance of the sultan's private palaces.<ref name=":222">{{Cite book|last=Deverdun|first=Gaston|title=Marrakech: Des origines à 1912|publisher=Éditions Techniques Nord-Africaines|year=1959|location=Rabat}}</ref>
[[File:Mechouar,Tlemcen..JPG|thumb|The [[El Mechouar Palace]] in [[Tlemcen]], [[Algeria]]]]
The term ''meshwar'' is later used to refer to reception areas or council chambers in the palaces of the region during the 13th-14th centuries and later. A ''meshwar'' was part of the citadel of [[Mansoura, Tlemcen|al-Mansourah]] built by the [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinids]] in the 14th century just outside [[Tlemcen]], [[Algeria]], for example.<ref name=":0522"/> Before this, also in Tlemcen, the [[Zayyanid dynasty|Zayyanids]] created a royal citadel known as the ''Qal'at al-Mashwar'' ("Citadel of the Mechouar"), still known today as the [[El Mechouar Palace]]. It was located on an earlier Almohad fortress and acted as the royal residence and center of power in the city in many periods.<ref name=":32" />{{Rp|223}} [[File:Mexuar. La Alhambra, Granada..JPG|thumb|The remains of the [[Nasrid dynasty|Nasrid]]-era ''[[Mexuar]]'' at the [[Alhambra]] ([[Granada]], [[Spain]])|left]]
A ''meshwar'' section (known as the ''[[Mexuar]]'' in Spanish) was also part of the [[Nasrid dynasty|Nasrid]] Palaces in the [[Alhambra]] of [[Granada]], [[Spain]]. It was composed of a main external entrance gate followed by two consecutive courtyards leading to a council chamber at its eastern end, all of which was separate from the [[emir]]'s palaces (the [[Court of the Myrtles|Comares Palace]] the [[Court of the Lions]]) further east. A number of other chambers were arranged around the courtyards, with the first courtyard likely being used by the secretaries and officials of the state administration, including the [[Chancery (medieval office)|chancery]] or ''[[Divan|diwan]]'', while the second courtyard was used by the emir for official audiences. The first courtyard even had its own [[mosque]].<ref name=":32" />{{Rp|269–272}}[[File:Africa_of_to-day_(1912)_(14595240928).jpg|alt=|thumb|Photograph from 1912 showing sultan's reception at the "[[Dar al-Makhzen (Fez)|New Mechouar]]" in front of [[Bab Dekkakin]] in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], Morocco]]Mechouars are later found as a standard feature of most royal palaces (usually known as the ''dar al-[[makhzen]]'') in [[Morocco]], many now dating from the later [[Alaouite dynasty|Alaouite]] period (17th-20th centuries). These were generally large open squares located just outside the gates of the palace or occupying a space between the palace's main external entrance and the inner palaces of the sultan's private residence. They were used as reception areas, public squares for [[military parade]]s, and places where the sultan or the [[Qaid|''qa'id'']] (main judicial official of the city) would receive [[petition]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bressolette|first=Henri|title=A la découverte de Fès|publisher=L'Harmattan|year=2016|isbn=978-2343090221}}</ref><ref name=":222" /><ref name=":32" /><ref name=":0523">{{Cite book|last=Buret|first=M.|title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|publisher=Brill|year=2012|editor-last=Bearman|editor-first=P.|chapter=Mak̲h̲zan|editor-last2=Bianquis|editor-first2=Th.|editor-last3=Bosworth|editor-first3=C.E.|editor-last4=van Donzel|editor-first4=E.|editor-last5=Heinrichs|editor-first5=W.P.}}</ref> Some inner mechouars, located within the palace enclosures, were used as the administrative section of the palace where various state officials worked or received their own audiences.<ref name=":0523" /><ref name=":223">{{Cite journal|last1=Bressolette|first1=Henri|last2=Delaroziere|first2=Jean|date=1983|title=Fès-Jdid de sa fondation en 1276 au milieu du XXe siècle|journal=Hespéris-Tamuda|pages=245–318}}</ref> Examples of such mechouars include the multiple mechouars of the [[Dar al-Makhzen (Fez)|Dar al-Makhzen]] in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]],<ref name=":223" /> the mechouars along the south side of the Dar al-Makhzen and Kasbah of [[Marrakesh]],<ref name=":222" /> the Lalla Aouda Square of the [[Kasbah of Moulay Ismail]] (and also to an extent the nearby El-Hedim Square) in [[Meknes]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=El Khammar|first=Abdeltif|date=2017|title=La mosquée de Lālla ʿAwda à Meknès: Histoire, architecture et mobilier en bois|journal=Hespéris-Tamuda|volume=LII (3)|pages=255–275}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=Qasaba of Mawlāy Ismā'īl|url=https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=297&lang=en|access-date=2020-06-07|website=www.qantara-med.org}}</ref> and the Mechouar of the [[Dar el Makhzen (Tangier)|Kasbah of Tangier]], among others.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Qasba Tanja|url=https://archnet.org/sites/8455|access-date=2020-10-26|website=Archnet}}</ref> The modern [[Dar al-Makhzen (Rabat)|Royal Palace of Rabat]] also includes a vast esplanade called the Mechouar, and the name is sometimes applied to the whole palace district in general.<ref name=":242">{{Cite book|title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780195309911|editor-last=M. Bloom|editor-first=Jonathan|chapter=Rabat|editor-last2=S. Blair|editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Dar al Makhzen – Palais Royal de Rabat|url=http://www.rabat-maroc.net/dar-al-mahkzen/|access-date=2020-10-26|language=fr-FR}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Ksar]]
*[[Kasbah]]
* [[Islamic architecture]]
* [[List of Moroccan royal residences]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Islamic architecture}}
[[Category:State ritual and ceremonies]]
[[Category:Politics of Morocco]]
[[Category:Politics of Algeria]]
[[Category:Islamic culture]]