Founded in the 12th century as a military town by Amlohad’s ruler Abd al-mu’min, Rabat was once the administrative center of the protectorate that the French instituted over Morocco in 1912. When Morocco achieved independence in 1955, Rabat became the capital city of the country, and it’s now its seventh-largest city.

The city has the Rabat Archaeological Museum and the Musée Mohammed VI d’Art Moderne et Contemporain.

Talking about cultural and social issues, many organizations are operative in the city, with Orient-Occident Foundation and ONA Foundation being the biggest of them.

Also, an independent art scene is active in Rabat: the first independent space for visual arts, L’appartement 22, was created by Abdellah Karroum, and it opened in 2002, introducing both local and international artists.