Saléסלא

Morocco — Atlantic coast

Salé lies on Morocco's Atlantic coast, facing Rabat across the mouth of the Bou Regreg river. Andalusi families probably founded the town in the 11th century. Its Great Mosque dates from 1196, and the Marinids added a madrasa, a hospital and a Sufi lodge in the 14th century. The Andalusi Sufi Ibn Ashir, later the city's patron saint, drew disciples here, among them Ibn Abbad al-Rundi, and the vizier Ibn al-Khatib spent his first exile in the town. Morisco refugees from Hornachos settled here after Spain's 1609 expulsion, and in 1627 Salé and Rabat formed a corsair republic. The town also had a mellah; Chaim ibn Attar was born here around 1696 and later ran a yeshiva here.

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