A defensive fortress and observation post when it was built in the 10C, the kasbah occupies a dominant position. Past the splendid Oudaia Gate, a magisterial entrance, you reach a complex of whitewashed houses crossed by Rue Jamaa, which stops at the Plateforme du Sémaphore (signal station). There is a fine view from here of the estuary and, farther off, Salé. Rabat’s oldest mosque, built by the Almohads in the mid-12C, lies on this street.