Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen:

You can start you’re walkingtour through the beautiful medina in the east of the new district best at the gate Bab el-Ain. Here you will also meet when you come from the bus station. The heart of the old city is Plaza Uta el-Hammam with its cozy terraces. The whole town is painted white and blue, which gives the town a romantic but also a clean and clear picture.

The terracotta details give the city its Spanish temperament. The Medina is a small and well-organized part of the city with typical narrow alleys, small streets with shops and workshops. You can take a look at the Grande Mosquee from the 15th century or Funduq Chfichu.

This is a historic building that has been used for centuries for accommodation for pilgrims and travelers. In the east of the old part of the city you quickly reach the cool source of Ras el-Ma via the Bab Onsar city gate, where locals like to picnic and / or do the laundry. 

The kasbah of Chefchaouen (entrance 10 Dinar) was built by founder Moulay Ali ben Rachid in the 15th century. Two centuries later he would rebuild (read: improve and strengthen) it against hostile Berber tribes and later Europeans (Spaniards). In 1920 (during the Rif war) leader Abd Al-Krim had his headquarters here. Besides the beautiful view over the Medina of the city you can visit the ethnographic museum, visit the gallery and / or the lovely garden.

You can also view the prison and the watchtower. Finally, you can take a short walk to the ruined mosque which is about 2 km outside the center. This was strangely enough built by the Spaniards but abandoned during the Rif war in the 20's. You can get there by walking to the eastern gate Bab El-Ansar and into the mountains.

Moulay Ali ben Rachid, leader of the Ghomara tribes, founded the city Chefchaouen (then still called "Chaouen what means litterally (mountain) peaks) in 1471. The place was chosen to serve as the basis for Berber attacks on the Portuguese (and other European invaders) in the now Spanish enclave Ceuta. The city also grew steadily due to the arrival of many Muslim and Jewish refugees from Granada in Spain who were being hunted there.

It was these Spanish refugees who are responsible for the now famous white-lined houses, orange roof tiles and small courtyards. From the 1930s onwards, the Jewish inhabitants would paint blue (over) the old green doors and windows (color of Islam). Chefchaouen remained an isolated mountain town until 1920 when the Spaniards arrived.

Before they came trotting even Christian newcomers were chased away; two would be amazed at the strange, very traditional and old Castillian language that the inhabitants still used. From 1925 to 1927 it was part of the Rif Republic of Abdel Crimea. In 1921 he proclaimed an independent Islamic Rif Republic and led the resistance against the Spanish occupation. At that time the city was attacked and bombed several times by the Spanish army, during the so-called Rif war. The Spaniards would remain until the independence of Morocco in 1956.