Abdallah al-Ghalib
During the Saadian dynasty period (16th century) the city underwent significant urban changes, with new neighbourhoods and new mosques being created in the western areas of the city (on the site of an older Jewish neighbourhood), such as the Mouassine Mosque. The Saadians appear to have also given their patronage to the neighbourhood around the Ben Youssef Mosque. The Ben Youssef Mosque was reportedly rebuilt or refurbished by sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib, who ruled between 1557 and 1574 (though no remains of this Saadian mosque have been found). Next to it, Abdallah al-Ghalib also erected in 1563-64 a great new madrasa (theological college), the Ben Youssef Madrasa, just east of the mosque, thereby giving it a new life as the mosque of scholars. The ornate street fountain known as Shrob ou Shouf was also built nearby during the reign of Ahmad al-Mansur (ruled 1578–1603).