The restoration revives the Moorish Café with the 28/07/2020




The restoration revives the Moorish Café with the "Kasbah of the Udayas" :  

 

The restoration of the Moorish Café in the Kasbah of the Udayas, as it is a symbol of the intangible cultural heritage of the city of Rabat, caused great controversy, as overnight the population woke up to pictures and videos showing the disappearance of the cafe from its place.

The great controversy left behind by the images prompted officials to clarify about this place, which is one of the main heritage of the capital, Rabat, stressing that it is only important to restore the cafe with the valley of the valleys and not remove it from its place, to protect from the danger of its collapse.

Officials affirm that it is important to rehabilitate the Moorish Café, which is part of a large project that includes the rehabilitation of the entire valley of the valleys (fences, doors, antiquities, ornamental museums, the garden, etc.).

In this context, the Rabat Al-Fateh Association for Sustainable Development and the Memory of Rabat Salé Association, as effective associations in the field of sensitizing the importance of protecting the tangible and intangible heritage of the city of Rabat, initiated contact with the various actors and public authorities in charge of managing heritage affairs to obtain information about the causes and objectives of the restoration project.

The two societies affirm, within a joint communication, that the project aims to rebuild some architectural sites and buildings in their original form, according to the study that was carried out on the impact of this intervention on the heritage site and according to historical documents and photographs dating to it.

Concerning the level of infrastructure, the two societies say, "It became evident through the intervention of a studies office that the site hosting the cafe suffers from serious structural problems due to the additions and interventions it has witnessed during the last decades, which led to: the exposure of the earth, walls and pillars to erosion, in addition to corrosion of steel Armed concrete, the wooden beams were damaged and there were no foundations for some of the supports.

"These data confirm that the site, which receives large numbers of Moroccan citizens and tourists, is at risk of collapse," the author adds.

The associations report that the officials asserted, from an architectural point of view, that this project "will preserve the true identity of the site without change, and will also take care to remove all additions or interventions that he knew, which undermined the features of the historical architectural reality rooted in the collective memory of the Moroccans."

AGADIR POGODA