باب الساكمة

Bab Segma

Bab Segma is two massive octagonal Marinid towers on the north side of Fes el-Jdid, all that is left of a gate into a royal garden. The garden has gone, and the gate takes its name from a pious woman buried here in 1737.

Plan a day from this gate Read its story

Two octagonal Marinid towers that once carried an aqueduct.Plan a day from this gate

Fes el-Jdid, north side between Kasbah Cherarda and the New Mechouar
Marinid towers, about 1286–87; named after 1737
Also written Bab Sagma, Bab Sigma, Bab Essagma, باب السيكمة

Bab Segma, Fes el-Jdid. Photo: Robert Prazeres, CC BY-SA 4.0

The story of Bab Segma

The towers are believed to have marked an entrance to the Mosara Garden, a large Marinid royal garden laid out north of Fes el-Jdid in 1287. A raised aqueduct ran from Bab Dekkakin, passed through the towers and turned into the garden, and the openings high in the towers show its course. en.wikipedia.org (source, opens in a new tab)

The garden disappeared after the Marinid period. In the 17th century Sultan Moulay Rashid built Kasbah Cherarda on the north-west side of the gate. en.wikipedia.org (source, opens in a new tab)

The name comes from Amina Sagma, a pious woman buried beside the gate in 1737. en.wikipedia.org (source, opens in a new tab)

Arabic Wikipedia adds that the gate fell into ruin in the Alaouite period and that Sultan Hassan I ordered its renovation in the 19th century. ar.wikipedia.org (source, opens in a new tab)

Where Bab Segma is

Pinned on OpenStreetMap, with the walks from the gate to the places nearest it. Each one links to its own guide.

Bab Segma is a gate in the walls. These are the places closest to it, with the walk to each one through the lanes:

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Questions about Bab Segma

What people ask us before they walk through it.

Who was Bab Segma named after?

Amina Sagma, a pious woman buried beside the gate in 1737.

What are the openings high in the towers?

They show where a raised Marinid aqueduct once passed through the towers on its way from Bab Dekkakin into the royal Mosara Garden.

Is Bab Segma near Bab Makina?

Yes. Bab Makina, a venue of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, is a short walk away on the Mechouar.

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