The city is located at the edge of the Atlantic in northwestern Morocco, the city was founded in 1150 by the Almohades10, who built a citadel (became the kasbah Oudayas), a mosque and a residence.

It was then called a ribat ("fortress" 11). The current name comes from Ribat Al Fath, "Victory Camp". Later, the grandson of Al-Mūmin - Ya'qub al-Mansūr - enlarged and completed the city, including surrounding walls.

Subsequently, it served as a base for Almohad expeditions in Andalusia. After 1269, when the Merinids chose Fez as capital, Rabat entered a period of decline.

Thus, the Moriscan explorer Hassan al-Wazzan reported that there remained only 100 houses inhabited in 1515. In 1609, following the decree of expulsion of Philip III, 13,000 Moriscos found refuge, revitalizing well the city12.

Until the nineteenth century, Rabat is known as Salé-le-Neuf.