As many of you know, I am in Morocco for some vacation time combined with some work, and also working on some family issues with my mother-in-law’s estate.  We have made the most of each day, and I have seen (and photographed) lots of amazing doors.  I hope you don’t get sick of seeing them…”Darn!  Not another beautiful door!!”  I have also had requests for non-door photos so I will show you some of this beautiful country too.

Today’s doors are from an old school (medersa or madrasa) in Salé, which was built in 1333, adjacent to a the Grande Mosque.  The central courtyard is beautifully decorated with zellij tile, intricate plasterwork, and carved cedar.  On the second floor there are small “student cells” surrounding the courtyard.  The building is in incredibly great shape and it was almost deserted, so we had a great time exploring and the attendant even let me close and bar the front door.

Here are some photos of the main entrance.  One thing I noticed is that many of the entrances in Morocco have fancy arches but the doors are just rectangular, not shaped to the arch.  The bar came out of a hole in the wall, spanned the pair, and was inserted into a hole in the opposite wall.  A wedge held the bar in place when it was partially projected.

This is the main courtyard and one of the columns.  So beautiful!!

The student cells were tiny – maybe 5′ x 8′.  Many did not have windows.  On the bright side, the doors did not appear to have any type of locks.  The pivots were integral to the door – there is a photo of the top pivot below.

This is the tiny door to the roof.  It was hung on “eyes” (as in “hooks and eyes”), and had gone through a couple of different lock changes.  From the roof there was a beautiful view of the city of Salé, as well as Rabat, across the river.

My favorite comment of the day was when my oldest daughter said, “Those stairs are a fire hazard!”  🙂

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