A part of the area, the Dar al-Makhzen, is still in use as an occasional royal residence of the King of Morocco, while other sections of the complex have been converted to other functions or replaced with general residential neighbourhoods.

[12][13] He distinguished himself as a ruler who wished to establish a unified Moroccan state as the absolute authority in the land, independent of any particular group within Morocco – in contrast to previous dynasties which relied on certain tribes or regions as the base of their power.

In practice, he still had to rely on various groups to control outlying areas, but he nonetheless succeeded in retaking many coastal cities occupied by England and Spain and managed to enforce order and heavy taxation throughout his territories.

[9]: 129  One may have been the fact that Ismail had to fight hard to reconquer both Fes and Marrakesh from his rival nephew (Ahmad al-Mahriz, son of Moulay Rashid) during the first years of his reign, which may have rendered him skeptical towards both cities as possible centers of power.

The ulema (religious scholars) of Fes were also particularly disapproving of his ways, including his use of slaves (many of whom were of Muslim background), and maintained tense relations with him throughout his reign.

[14][9][16] Choosing Meknes thus removed him from the influence of traditional elites and allowed him to build a fresh base from which he hoped to exercise absolute power.

[14] The threat of Ottoman attacks from the east (from Algeria) and the increasing insecurity in central Morocco due to tribal migrations from the Atlas and Sahara regions may have also persuaded Ismail that Meknes, situated further west, was more defensible than Fes.

[16][8] Nonetheless, frequently-told stories about the tens of thousands of Christian slaves used for labour and the large underground dungeons where they were kept are somewhat exaggerated and originate from the accounts of European ambassadors who visited Isma'il's court (often to negotiate the release of prisoners from their countries).

[4] In reality, the number of Christian slaves was likely closer to a few thousand at most and the chambers popularly called "prisons" were actually storage rooms for grain and supplies.

One of the last constructions before his death, carried out between 1721 and 1725, was the Heri al-Mansur, a palace on the far southern edge of the kasbah (still partly preserved today) which included vast stables.

[22][20]: 391  The Dar al-Kebira, however, was abandoned and progressively transformed into a residential neighbourhood where the inhabitants constructed their houses within and between the former palace structures of Isma'il's time.

[19] This contrast also kept with the tradition of isolating the sultan and his family from the noise and crowds of the popular city, a tendency apparent in the region since the early Islamic period with examples such as Madinat al-Zahra.

This water was drawn directly from the phreatic table in the so-called House of the Ten Norias (or Dar al-Ma) using a mechanical hydraulic system of chained buckets turned by a wheel.

[25][8][4] This water supply and underground plumbing system is considered to be a century ahead of the infrastructure found in contemporary European palaces and constructions.

Its outer defensive walls (built in rammed earth) were an astonishing 7 meters thick and its angles or corners were typically fortified with massive bastions (such as Borj Belkari).

[5][33] Inside, the gate's passage is bent, turning 90 degrees twice,[8] and bridges the distance between the double walls of the Kasbah, granting access to Place Lalla Aouda beyond.

This consists of a repeating darj-wa-ktaf motif (stylized lozenge-like pattern in Moroccan architecture) which frames the main archway of the gate and fills the spaces above the columns of the flanking bastions.

[8][21] In the early 19th century, Sultan Moulay Abd ar-Rahman added a loggia-type structure just outside the gate on the right (southwest side), which is no longer present today.

[8] Some examples of stucco-carved decoration remain in some areas and the floor and lower walls are covered in zellij tiles, but this is also the result of significant restoration.

[7][19][4]: 111  The number of Christian prisoners was far smaller (by some estimates, less than a thousand) and they were likely housed in several different areas at different times; the last of which was near a Franciscan convent in the old medina, near the present-day Zaytuna Mosque.

[37] Other parts of Moulay Isma'il's palace complex were apparently also built on similar vaulted substructures which served as storage for supplies and military equipment.

[8] Moulay Isma'il chose this location in part because it was already considered sanctified by the presence of the tomb of Sidi 'Abd ar-Rahman al-Majdub, a 16th-century poet and Sufi mystic.

[8][38] The complex was built under Moulay Isma'il, but was modified and expanded multiple times, in particular under his son and brief successor, Ahmad ad-Dhahabi (who ruled, with interruptions, between 1727 and 1729), who was in turn buried here afterwards.

The upper walls and the areas around the mihrab and doorways are decorated with carved and painted stucco featuring arabesque and epigraphic motifs typical of Moroccan architecture.

These domed chambers each held a noria or mechanical hydraulic system which drew water from a deep well reaching down to the phreatic table, via a series of pails or buckets chained together and raised by a horse-drawn wheel.

[8] Although the basin was apparently also used for leisure by palace residents who bathed here or wandered around on small boats, its purpose appears to have been primarily utilitarian and integrated to the royal city's water supply.

Almost nothing of these stables have survived today, however they were described in writing by contemporary observers such as Père Busnot, who called them one of the most impressive elements of the palace city.

[4][16][20]: 396–397 The er-Roua Mosque is located slightly northwest of the Heri al-Mansur and was built on the orders of Sultan Muhammad ibn Abdallah (ruled between 1757 and 1790).

[34] The mosque consists of a large square courtyard (sahn) measuring 53 meters per side, and an interior prayer hall to the southeast divided into 4 transverse naves by three rows of horseshoe arches.

[9]: 148  The sahn's larger proportions compared to the prayer hall and its lack of a surrounding gallery mark a step in the evolution of new mosques during the Alaouite period and may even reflect the influence of a non-Moroccan architect.