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Medina Quarter

 
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A medina quarter is a distinct city section found in many North Africa
North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories:...
n cities. The medina is typically walled, contains many narrow and maze-like
Maze

A maze is a complex tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route. In everyday speech, both maze and labyrinth denote a complex and confusing series of pathways, but technically the maze is distinguished from the labyrinth....
 streets, and was built by Arabs as far back as the 9th century CE
Common Era

Common Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used in the Western world, and also internationally, for numbering the year part of the calendar date....
. The word "medina" (or Médina) (madina) itself simply means "city
City

A city is an urban area with a high population density and a particular administrative, legal, or historical status.Large industrialized cities generally have advanced systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, house, and transportation and more....
" or "town
Town

A town is a type of human settlement ranging from a few to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition....
" in modern day Arabic.

Medinas often contain historical fountain
Fountain

A traditional fountain is an arrangement where water issues from a source , fills a basin of some kind, and is drained away. Fountains may be wall fountains or free-standing....
s, palace
Palace

A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop....
s, and mosque
Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid, ? . The word "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship, although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, privately owned mosque and the larger, "collective" mosque ,...
s. The monuments are preserved for their cultural significance (and are also a draw for tourists).

Because of the very narrow streets, medinas are free from car traffic, and in some cases even motorcycle
Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a Single track, two-wheeled motor vehicle powered by an Motorcycle engine. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as Touring motorcycle travel, navigating Naked bike, Cruiser , Motorcycle sport and Motorbike racing, or off-road conditions....
 and bicycle
Bicycle

The bicycle, bike, or cycle is a pedal-driven, human-powered transport with two bicycle wheel attached to a bicycle frame, one behind the other....
 traffic.






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A medina quarter is a distinct city section found in many North Africa
North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories:...
n cities. The medina is typically walled, contains many narrow and maze-like
Maze

A maze is a complex tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route. In everyday speech, both maze and labyrinth denote a complex and confusing series of pathways, but technically the maze is distinguished from the labyrinth....
 streets, and was built by Arabs as far back as the 9th century CE
Common Era

Common Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used in the Western world, and also internationally, for numbering the year part of the calendar date....
. The word "medina" (or Médina) (madina) itself simply means "city
City

A city is an urban area with a high population density and a particular administrative, legal, or historical status.Large industrialized cities generally have advanced systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, house, and transportation and more....
" or "town
Town

A town is a type of human settlement ranging from a few to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition....
" in modern day Arabic.

Medinas often contain historical fountain
Fountain

A traditional fountain is an arrangement where water issues from a source , fills a basin of some kind, and is drained away. Fountains may be wall fountains or free-standing....
s, palace
Palace

A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop....
s, and mosque
Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid, ? . The word "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship, although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, privately owned mosque and the larger, "collective" mosque ,...
s. The monuments are preserved for their cultural significance (and are also a draw for tourists).

Because of the very narrow streets, medinas are free from car traffic, and in some cases even motorcycle
Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a Single track, two-wheeled motor vehicle powered by an Motorcycle engine. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as Touring motorcycle travel, navigating Naked bike, Cruiser , Motorcycle sport and Motorbike racing, or off-road conditions....
 and bicycle
Bicycle

The bicycle, bike, or cycle is a pedal-driven, human-powered transport with two bicycle wheel attached to a bicycle frame, one behind the other....
 traffic. The streets can be less than a metre wide. This makes them unique among highly populated urban centres. Some medinas were also used to confuse and slow down invaders because of how narrow and winding they are.

Locations of existing medinas

  • Algiers
    Algiers

    Algiers Nicknamed El-Bahdja or Alger la Blanche for the glistening white of its buildings as seen rising up from the sea, Algiers is situated on the west side of a bay of the Mediterranean Sea....
    , Algeria
    Algeria

    Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
      The Casbah
    Casbah

    The Casbah or as transliterated from Arabic Qasba is specifically the citadel of Algiers and the traditional quarter clustered round it....
     (Kasbah, Qasbah) of Algiers is a medina named after its fortress.
  • Benghazi
    Benghazi

    Benghazi or Bengasi is the second largest city in Libya and the main city of the Cyrenaica region . It is also a Districts of Libya of Libya of the wider city area....
    , Libya
    Libya

    Libya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
  • Casablanca
    Casablanca

    Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Greater Casablanca region.With a population of 3.1 million ??????)...
    , Morocco
    Morocco

    Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
  • Chefchaouen
    Chefchaouen

    Chefchaouen is a city in northwest Morocco. It is the chief town of the province of the same name.Chefchaouen is situated in the Rif Mountains, just inland from Tangier and Tetouan....
    , Morocco
    Morocco

    Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
  • Dakar
    Dakar

    Dakar is the capital city of Senegal, located on the Cap-Vert, on the country's Atlantic Ocean coast. It is Senegal's largest city. Its position, on the western edge of Africa , is an advantageous departure point for trans-Atlantic and European trade; this fact aided its growth into a major regional seaport....
    , Senegal
    Senegal

    Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the S?n?gal River in West Africa. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south....
  • Essaouira
    Essaouira

    Essaouira is a city / wilaya and tourist resort, in the western Moroccan economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz , on the Atlantic Ocean....
    , Morocco
    Morocco

    Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
  • Fes
    FES

    Fes may refer to:* Fes, Morocco, also known as Fez, a city in Morocco* Persona 3 FES, an 'add-on' disk for Shin Megami Tensei:Persona 3.FES is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:...
    , Morocco
    Morocco

    Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
     is the largest medina in the world
  • Hammamet
    Hammamet

    Hammamet is a town in Tunisia. Due to its beaches it is a popular destination for swimming and water sports. It was the first tourist destination in Tunisia....
    , Tunisia
    Tunisia

    Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast....
  • Kairouan
    Kairouan

    Kairouan it is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate. It was founded by the Arabs in around 670 and the original name was derived from Arabic kairuw?n, from Persian language K?rav?n, meaning "military/civilian camp" , "caravan", or "resting place" ....
    , Tunisia
    Tunisia

    Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast....
  • Mahdia
    Mahdia

    Mahdia, Arabic language: ??????? , is a Tunisian coastal city with 37,000 inhabitants, south of Monastir, Tunisia and southeast of Sousse....
    , Tunisia
    Tunisia

    Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast....
  • Marrakesh, Morocco
    Morocco

    Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
  • Mdina
    Mdina

    Mdina, Citt? Vecchia, or Citt? Notabile, is the old capital of Malta. Mdina is a medieval town situated in the centre of the island....
    , Malta
    Malta

    Malta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed country European microstates microstate in the European Union....
     has medina-like features from its past Arab rulers
  • Meknes
    Meknes

    Meknes is a city in northern Morocco, located 130 kilometres from the capital Rabat and 60 kilometres from Fes. It is served by the A2 expressway between those two cities and by the corresponding railway....
    , Morocco
    Morocco

    Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
  • Rabat
    Rabat

    Rabat , population 2 million , is the Capital of the Morocco. It is also the capital of the Rabat-Sal?-Zemmour-Zaer region.The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg....
    , Morocco
    Morocco

    Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
  • Sousse
    Sousse

    Sousse , is a city of Tunisia. Located 140 km south of Tunis, the city has 173, 047 inhabitants . It is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which is a part of the Mediterranean Sea....
    , Tunisia
    Tunisia

    Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast....
  • Tangier
    Tangier

    Tangier or Tangiers [#Notes] is a city of northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel....
    , Morocco
    Morocco

    Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
  • Tétouan
    Tétouan

    T?touan , also spelled Tetuan, sometimes Tettawen or Tettawin, is a city in northern Morocco. It is the only open port of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about 40 mi E.S.E....
    , Morocco
    Morocco

    Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
  • Tozeur
    Tozeur

    Tozeur is an oasis and a city in south west Tunisia. The city is located North West of Chott el-Djerid, in between this Chott and the smaller Chott el-Gharsa....
    , Tunisia
    Tunisia

    Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast....
  • Tripoli
    Tripoli

    Tripoli is the largest and Capital city of Libya.Tripoli has a population of 1.69 million. The city is located in the northwest of the country on the edge of the desert, on a point of rocky land projecting into the Mediterranean Sea and forming a bay....
    , Libya
    Libya

    Libya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
  • Tunis
    Tunis

    Tunis is the Capital of the Tunisian Republic and also the Tunis Governorate, with a population of 1 200,000 in 2008 and over 3,980,500 in the municipal area....
    , Tunisia
    Tunisia

    Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast....


Locations of ruined medinas

  • Alhambra
    Alhambra

    The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex of the Moors rulers of Emirate of Granada in southern Spain , occupying a hilly terrace on the southeastern border of the city of Granada....
    , Spain
    Spain

    Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
  • Azahara, Spain
    Spain

    Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....


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