Avenue Mohammed V, Rabat

Before Moroccan independence in March 1956, what is now Avenue Mohammed V used to come under several names: from north to south, rue el Gza, rue Bab Jdid, rue Bab Teben, all three in the old medina; avenue Dar el-Makhzen, between Boulevard Galliéni (later renamed Avenue Hassan II), and rue de la Maréchale (west) / rue Maurice Pascouet (east; later renamed into, respectively, Avenue Soekarno in 1960 and Avenue Al Mansour Addahbi); Cours Lyautey, between Avenue Soekarno / Al Mansour Addahbi and Avenue Moulay Hassan with the As-Sunna Mosque (this section was also known as avenue Dar el-Makhzen); and Avenue des {{ill|Touarga|fr}}, running southeast beyond the mosque into the ministries' neighborhood and leading to the Protectorate Residence. All these tracks were renamed in honor of then-reigning King Mohammed V in July 1956.{{cite web |website=Le Monde |title=Il n'y a plus de "cours Lyautey" à Rabat ! |date={{date|1956/07/07}} |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1956/07/07/il-n-y-a-plus-de-cours-lyautey-a-rabat_2253029_1819218.html }}

Avenue Mohammed V is a prime example of urban design in the context of the French protectorate, in which first resident-general Hubert Lyautey promoted the creation of "new cities" ({{langx|fr|villes nouvelles}}) next to the older medinas that were preserved in their traditional urban form. In Rabat as in Casablanca, Fez, Marrakesh and Meknes, the design of Rabat's new city was led by Henri Prost,{{citation |journal=MAT Journals: Journal of Interior Designing and Regional Planning |volume=4 |title=Cultural Urban Heritage at the Challenge of Urban Planning Policy: Rabat and Casablanca as Example (1912-2018) |author=Karima Berdouz and Mouna M’hammedi |date=2019 |issue=1 |url=http://matjournals.in/index.php/JoIDRP/article/view/3375 |page=21}} with assistance for landscaping by Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier.{{citation |title=Le rôle fondateur du paysage dans la création des villes coloniales marocaines : Rabat et Marrakech, deux exemples de villes-jardins |author=Mounia Bennani |url=https://doi.org/10.4000/paysage.16248 |journal=Projets de Paysage |date=2012|doi=10.4000/paysage.16248 |doi-access=free }}

The avenue's northern section is one of the thoroughfares that intersect Rabat's old medina, lined with shops and several mosques. The point where it crosses the Andalusian wall of Rabat is the location of the city's central market built in the early protectorate era, for which the ancient gate of Bab Tben was demolished. Further to the south, the avenue's wider central segment is lined with a number of iconic buildings hosting major Moroccan institutions. These include, roughly from north to south and from west to east:

• a former court building built in the 1920s;{{cite web |website=Le Matin |title=Le Palais de Justice des années 20 en péril |date={{date|2013/09/17}} |url=https://lematin.ma/journal/2013/monument-historique-de-rabat_le-palais-de-justice-des-annees-20-en-peril/187879.html }}
• the central Rabat office of Poste Maroc, designed by Adrien Laforgue and Albert Laprade, completed in 1918;{{cite conference |title=Transformation de l'espace urbain par le Protectorat à travers le cas de la ville de Rabat |author=Abderrahmane Chorfi |pages=247–258 |book-title=Villes rattachées, villes reconfigurées, XVIe - XXe siècles |editor=Denise Turrel |publisher=Presses universitaires François-Rabelais |location=Tours |date=2013 |url=https://books.openedition.org/pufr/3067?lang=en }}
• the head office of Bank Al-Maghrib (until 1959 the State Bank of Morocco), designed by {{ill|Auguste Cadet|fr}} and Edmond Brion and completed in 1925;{{cite news |newspaper=Le Temps |date={{date|1925/11/26}} |title=La nouvelle Banque d'Etat |url=https://www.entreprises-coloniales.fr/afrique-du-nord/Banque_Etat_Maroc.pdf}}
• a building used by Maroc Telecom;
• the former Trésorerie générale, designed by Adrien Laforgue,{{citation |author=Charlotte Jelidi |title=La fabrication d'une ville nouvelle sous le Protectorat français au Maroc (1912-1956) : Fès-nouvelle |publisher=Université François Rabelais - Tours |date=2007 |url=https://theses.hal.science/tel-00459553/document |page=271}} completed in 1930;{{R|Mouline|p=92}}
• the Parliament of Morocco, formerly Rabat's central court building designed by Adrien Laforgue, completed in 1932 and repurposed as parliament in the 1970s;{{cite web |title=Discover Rabat: Parlement du Maroc (Ex-Palais de justice) |website=facebook |url=https://www.facebook.com/JCIRabat/videos/discover-rabat-parlement-du-maroc-ex-palais-de-justice/1921927197939874/ |author=Tayeb Laabi |date=2020 |publisher=Jeune Chambre Internationale Rabat }}
• on the eastern side, a row of arcaded commercial buildings including the higher-rise Balima Hotel, designed by François Robert and completed in 1932;{{cite web |website=Au pays du soleil couchant |date={{date|2019/11/02}} |title=Jean-François Robert, architecte D.P.L.G., au delà du cinéma Empire (II) : la collaboration avec la société Balima |url=https://www.aupaysdusoleilcouchant.fr/jean-francois-robert-architecte-d-p-l-g-au-dela-du-cinema-empire-ii-la-collaboration-avec-la-societe-balima/ }}
• the {{ill|Gare de Rabat-Ville|fr}}, designed by Adrien Laforgue and completed in 1923;{{cite web |website=L'Opinion |title=Rabat / ONCF : Le réaménagement de la gare Rabat-Ville entre les mains de l'UNESCO |author=Houda Belabd |date={{date|2022/10/26}} |url=https://www.lopinion.ma/Rabat-ONCF-Le-reamenagement-de-la-gare-Rabat-Ville-entre-les-mains-de-l-UNESCO_a32739.html }}
• the {{ill|Constitutional Court of Morocco|fr|Cour constitutionnelle (Maroc)}} created in 2011, facing Avenue Moulay Hassan and occupying part of the former Immeuble Djazouli that hosted the directorate of postal services during the protectorate,{{R|Mouline|p=92-93}} designed by François Robert;{{cite web |website=Au pays du soleil couchant |date={{date|2019/10/29}} |title=Jean-François Robert, architecte D.P.L.G., au delà du cinéma Empire (I) : les sources |url=https://www.aupaysdusoleilcouchant.fr/jean-francois-robert-architecte-d-p-l-g-i-au-dela-du-cinema-empire/ }}
• the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, designed by Karim Chakor and opened in 2014;{{cite journal |title=Maroc : le Musée MMVI, écrin chic pour Rabat |journal=Jeune Afrique |date={{date|2014/10/09}} |url=http://www.jeuneafrique.com/Article/ARTJAWEB20141009170857/ |author=Youssef Aït Akdim }}.
• the Lycée Moulay Youssef high school, opened in 1916;
• the As-Sunna Mosque, originally built in the 18th century and much altered since then.

Further southeast, the avenue is bordered by ministries and ends at the entrance of the former protectorate residence, now Ministry of Interior, designed by Albert Laprade and completed in 1924:{{citation |title=Repères de la Mémoire : Rabat |author=Saïd Mouline |date=1998 |publisher=Ministère de l'habitat, de l'emploi et de la formation professionnelle |url=https://marocpluriel.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Reperes-de-la-memoire.pdf }}

• Villa des Arts, Al Mada Foundation;
• Inspectorates of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces;
• Ministry of Health;
• Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries;
• Ministry of Equipment;
• Ministry of Economy and Finance;
• Secretariat-General of the Government.

File:Rabat Parlament.JPG|Perspective of the avenue with the As-Sunna Mosque at its southern end

File:Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City a Shared Heritage-119415.jpg|Former court building

File:Rabat Poste.jpg|Central Post Office

File:Morocco Rabat Central Bank.jpg|Bank Al-Maghrib

File:Rabat - building of parlament.JPG|Parliament building

File:Rabat BoulevardM5.jpg|Commercial buildings on the avenue's eastern side

File:Rabat Balima.jpg|Balima Hotel

File:Rabat Gare Ville.jpg|Rabat-Ville train station

File:Rabat SupremeCourt.jpg|Constitutional Court

File:MMVI.JPG|Mohammed VI Museum

File:Great Mosque Rabat 2007.jpg|As-Sunnah Mosque

• Mohammed V Square in Casablanca

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Category:Rabat