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Establishedin1471whenMoorishandJewishpeople<br />
fled here to escape the Reconquista of Spain, it is<br />
locatedinNorthernMoroccoandthecity’ssignature<br />
colorisavarietyofcalmingshadesofblue.<br />
Inthe1930s,asizeablepopulationofJewishrefugees<br />
arrivedinChefchaouen,fleeingNazipersecutionand<br />
the growing threat of war. The blue is meant to<br />
represent peace, safety and the power of heaven. In<br />
this version of the story, blue walls rapidly spread<br />
outward from the city’s Jewish quarter, until the<br />
entire city was aglow. They’ll say the tradition of<br />
painting walls blue is Jewish, certainly, but goes back<br />
to the time of the city’s founding, in the 15 th c., when<br />
it was built around a fortress used to defend<br />
inhabitantsagainstPortugueseinvaders.Atthistime,<br />
local Moroccans lived alongside Jews and Moriscos<br />
(former Muslims who had converted to Christianity)<br />
foracenturyormore.<br />
The narrow streets of Chefchaouen (or Chaouen, as<br />
thelocalscallit)makenoattempttosoftentheimpact<br />
of the hillside the city is built on. The mountains<br />
abovethecitygivetheappearanceoftwohorns–and<br />
it’sbelievedthatthisiswherethenameChefchaouen<br />
comesfrom(literallymeaning“watchthehorns”ina<br />
localdialect).<br />
MEKNES<br />
Meknesisrenownedforitsvasthistoricalsignificance<br />
andisoneoftheImperialcitiesinMorocco.Itisbest<br />
knownforitscloselinkstoSultanMoulayIsmail,son<br />
of the founder of the Alaouite dynasty who turned<br />
Meknes into an impressive city in Spanish-Moorish<br />
style, surrounded by high walls with great doors,<br />
where the harmonious blending of the Islamic and<br />
European styles of the 17 th c. One of the grandest<br />
features of Meknes is the gate of El-Mansour,<br />
beautifully decorated with Almohad patterns and<br />
zellijmosaics.<br />
TANGIER<br />
TangierislocatedontheMaghrebcoastatthewestern<br />
entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the<br />
Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean, off<br />
Cape Spartel. The town is the capital of the Tangier-<br />
Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-<br />
AssilahprefectureofMorocco.Manycivilizationsand<br />
cultures have influenced the history of Tangier,<br />
starting from before the 10 th century BCE. Between<br />
the period of being a strategic Berber town and then<br />
a Phoenician trading center to the independence era<br />
around the 1950s, Tangier was a nexus for many<br />
cultures. In 1923, it was considered as having<br />
internationalstatusbyforeigncolonialpowers.<br />
ASILAH<br />
Believed to have initially been constructed by the<br />
Phoenicians as a trade post around 1500 B.C., and<br />
serving as home to a procession of conquerors<br />
thereafter,evenbeingahaventopiratesatonetimein<br />
its history, the seaside resort of Assilah boasts well<br />
preserved gates and ramparts as a reminder of its<br />
colorfulpast.Alldevelopmentatthispopulartourist<br />
destination has been carried out in such a way as to<br />
blend-inwith,andcomplement,itsancientstructures<br />
and visitors are assured of a warm welcome by the<br />
friendlylocals.<br />
VOLUBILIS<br />
Volubilis is a partly excavated Berber city situated<br />
nearthecityofMeknesandcommonlyconsideredas<br />
the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Mauretania.<br />
Built in a fertile agricultural area, it developed from<br />
the 3 rd century BC onward as a Berber, then proto-<br />
Carthaginian, settlement before being the capital of<br />
the kingdom of Mauretania. It grew rapidly under<br />
Roman rule from the 1 st century AD onward and<br />
expanded to cover about 42 hectares with a 2.6km<br />
circuit of walls. The city gained a number of major<br />
public buildings in the 2nd century, including a<br />
basilica, temple and triumphal arch. Its prosperity,<br />
which was derived principally from olive growing,<br />
promptedtheconstructionofmanyfinetown-houses<br />
with large mosaic floors. The city fell to local tribes<br />
around 285 and was never retaken by Rome because<br />
of its remoteness and indefensibility on the southwesternborderoftheRomanEmpire.Itcontinuedto<br />
be inhabited for at least another 700 years, first as a<br />
Latinized Christian community, then as an early<br />
Islamic settlement. By the 11 th century Volubilis had<br />
beenabandonedaftertheseatofpowerwasrelocated<br />
toFes.<br />
The ruins remained substantially intact until they<br />
were devastated by an earthquake in the mid-18 th<br />
century and subsequently looted by Moroccan rulers<br />
seeking stone for building Meknes. Today it is a<br />
UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed for being "an<br />
exceptionally well preserved example of a large<br />
RomancolonialtownonthefringesoftheEmpire"<br />
CASABLANCA<br />
Casablanca almost universally referred to as 'Casa', is<br />
the cosmopolitan, industrial and economic heart of<br />
Moroccoanditslargestcity,aswellasperhapsoneof<br />
thelessobviouslyendearingcitiesinthecountry,with<br />
asmall,unassumingmedinaandabusyvillenouvelle.<br />
Casablanca was established as a town in 1906 with a<br />
population of 20,000. Later, in 1907 when the French<br />
landed here, Fez was its commercial center, whilst<br />
Tangier was set up as the city’s main harbor. The<br />
French were soon ousted, however, and had to seek a<br />
newportaltogetherandTangierremainedMoroccan.<br />
Things have changed much since then. With a<br />
population of over 3 million, Casablanca resembles a<br />
SouthernEuropeancity.<br />
RABAT–THECAPITAL<br />
Located on the Atlantic coast in the north-west of<br />
Morocco, the site is the product of a fertile exchange<br />
between the Arab-Muslim past and Western<br />
modernism. The inscribed city encompasses the new<br />
town conceived and built under the French<br />
Protectorate from 1912 to the 1930s, including royal<br />
and administrative areas, residential and commercial<br />
developments and the Jardins d’Essais botanical and<br />
pleasure gardens. It also encompasses older parts of<br />
the city dating back to the 12 th century. The new town<br />
is one of the largest and most ambitious modern<br />
urbanprojectsbuiltinAfricainthe20thcenturyand<br />
probably the most complete. The older parts include<br />
Hassan Mosque (begun in 1184) and the Almohad<br />
ramparts and gates, the only surviving parts of the<br />
project for a great capital city of the Almohad<br />
caliphate as well as remains from the Moorish, or<br />
Andalusian,principalityofthe17 th century.