on all sides by two lines of walls, which on the east and west ran together but to the north and south were separated from each by intervening gardens or districts. What is now called the Old Mechouar (Vieux Méchouar), a large walled square fronting the entrance to the Royal Palace, was originally a fortified bridge over the Fes River set between two gates defending the northern entrance to the city. (Unlike today, the gate on the south side of this bridge/square led to the main city rather than directly to the palace, whose grounds did not yet extend to this point.) The northern gate of this bridge was known as Bab es-Sebaa (now called Bab Dekkakin), while the southern gate was known as the Bab al-Qantara ("Gate of the Bridge") or Bab al-Oued ("Gate of the River"). The relative importance of this northern entrance was likely due to the presence of the road to Meknes (the closest major city). From Bab al-Qantara the city's main street (now known as the Grande Rue de Fes el Jdid) ran directly to the southern gate, Bab 'Oyun Sanhaja (now called Bab Semmarine). The Grand Mosque of Fes el-Jdid, adjacent to the palace grounds, was built around 1276 during the new city's foundation, and was connected by a private passage directly to the palace, allowing the sultan to come and go for prayers. The main Muslim neighbourhoods to the east of the Dar al-Makhzen appear to have developed progressively over the Marinid period and were each centered around their own main mosque, such as the al-Hamra Mosque (located on the main street, now called the Grande Rue), the Lalla az-Zhar Mosque (to the southwest) and the Lalla Ghriba Mosque (further east). The Marinid Royal Gardens Abu Yusuf Ya'qub had also wished to create a vast pleasure garden hut he died in 1286 before this could be accomplished. His son and successor, Abu Ya'qub Yusuf, carried out the work instead in 1287. He enlisted an Andalusian engineer, Ibn al-Hajj from Seville, to help create a vast garden covering 67 hectares to the north of Fes el-Jdid and the royal palace, known as the Mosara Garden. The water for the gardens was drawn from the Oued Fes via a huge noria (waterwheel) measuring 26 metres in diameter and 2 metres wide. The noria, sometimes referred to as the "Grand Noria", delivered the water into an