Medina quarter
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For other uses, see Medina (disambiguation).
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A medina quarter (Arabic: المدينة القديمة al-madīnah al-qadīmah "the old city") is a distinct city section found in many North African cities. The medina is typically walled, contains many narrow and maze-like streets. The word "medina" (Arabic: مدينة madīnah) itself simply means "city" or "town" in modern day Arabic.
Medina quarters often contain historical fountains, palaces, and mosques.
Because of the very narrow streets, medinas are free from car traffic, and in some cases even motorcycle and bicycle 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.[citation needed]
[edit] Locations of existing medinas
- Algiers, Algeria The Casbah (Kasbah, Qasbah) of Algiers is a medina named after its fortress.
- Benghazi, Libya
- Casablanca, Morocco
- Chefchaouen, Morocco
- Dakar, Senegal
- Derna, Libya
- Essaouira, Morocco
- Fes, Morocco is one of largest medinas in the world
- Gharyan, Libya
- Hammamet, Tunisia
- Kairouan, Tunisia
- Mahdia, Tunisia
- Marrakesh, Morocco
- Mdina, Malta has medina-like features from its past Arab rulers
- Meknes, Morocco
- Rabat, Morocco
- Sousse, Tunisia
- Tangier, Morocco
- Taza, Morocco
- Tétouan, Morocco
- Misrata, Libya
- Tozeur, Tunisia
- Tripoli, Libya is the oldest and one of the largest medinas in the world
- Tobruk, Libya
- Tunis, Tunisia
- Zliten, Libya
