Sitting just in front of the mausoleum are the ruins of the gigantic (600 feet by 456 feet) and unfinished Hassan Mosque, built in 1196 by Yacoub el-Mansour, with all but the minaret destroyed by an earthquake in 1755. The enormous minaret (52 feet wide and 144 feet high) is today being restored and stands as a symbol of Rabat. It’s so large that I at first thought it must be some modern office building under construction. In the foreground is one of two candelabras at the steps to the mausoleum of Mohammed V, made of pierced and engraved copper.