Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of Beni Mellal, the Ain Asserdoun spring and its heritage centre.
On this page
Town, spring and heritage centre
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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9th century
An Idrisid town
A town called Hisn Dai is given to the Idrisid prince Yahya ibn Idris; it may correspond to the site of present-day Beni Mellal.
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1141
The Almohads arrive
The Almohads capture the earlier town.
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1688
A kasbah for Moulay Ismail
The Alaouite sultan Moulay Ismail founds a kasbah at Beni Mellal, and the modern town grows around it.
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1947
National heritage
The Ain Asserdoun site is classified as national heritage.
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January 2021
Work begins
Construction of the heritage interpretation centre begins, as the commune of Beni Mellal restores the gardens, channels and walls of the site.
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Summer 2024
The centre opens
The Ain Asserdoun Heritage Centre opens to the public among the gardens.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
- Wikipedia: Beni Mellal
- Wikipedia: Kasbah of Beni Mellal
- Le360: Nadia Fettah Alaoui s’enquiert des travaux de réhabilitation du site Ain Asserdoune (26 January 2021)
- Le Courrier de l’Atlas: Un nouveau musée ouvre ses portes pour rayonner sur le centre du pays (19 July 2024)
Links lead to the original publishers.