Temara

Temara () is a coastal city in Morocco. It is located in the region of Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, directly south of Rabat on the Atlantic coast, in the suburban area of the capital. The city with 297,098 inhabitants as of 2024 is the capital of Skhirate-Témara Prefecture. It is twinned with Saint Germain en Laye, France. The city has beaches and a small pleasure port.

== History == Temara was founded in the twelfth century (1130–1163) by Sultan Abd al-Mu'min, who built a mosque there and named it Massa. Five centuries later, Mulai Ismail built the current wall and made from Temara a ribat (casern) around Said mosque. Later, Mulay Abd ar-Rahman (1822–1859) and Mulay Abdul Aziz (1894–1908), completed (Kasbah of the Udayas) as religious and military camps. Temara also has a small network of coastal caves, notably El Harhoura 2 cave and El Mnasra cave (formerly known as the Smugglers' Cave), which are archaeological sites dating back 120,000 years, from the Aterian age.