Chefchaouen City In Morocco
Built in the 15th century in a beautiful mountainous environment at an altitude of 600 meters, Chefchaouen is so linked to the blue color that it took its name. Since its foundation, the beautiful city adorned with blue has remained jealously guarded between the breasts of the Rif mountains, and lovers of beautiful nature never cease to visit it as much those from abroad, as from within.
In this haven in the middle of mountains, lovers of history, picturesque sites, forests abundant with fauna and flora, rivers winding at the feet of trees and melodies of waterfalls in the hollows of the mountains will really be enchanted.
However, Chefchaouen has other treasures to reveal: Its Kasbah at the bottom of its medina with blue walls, steep alleys, open and welcoming shops, its museum, its historical square of Outa Al Hammam, its water sources, the customs and traditions of its jebala population with their colorful "sari" and smiling lips in the shade of the sombrero covering their heads.
Will also be delighted lovers of walking, hiking, and swimming in the cool turquoise and fresh waters at the foot of the waterfalls of Akchour, as well as lovers of wild fruit picking, Provencal herbs or aromatic plants. In this environment, they will oxygenate their lungs away from the fumes of exhaust and factories pollution, as they allow themselves a healthy diet based on local products, naturally grown and simmered in succulent dishes of the region.
Chefchaouen is also the meeting place for artists and music lovers, because as much as the body, the mind is nourished by the beautiful lights of the blue city inspiring a beautiful work with the strokes of a brush, the words in the ink of a pen, the notes of music.
Chefchaouen is the tourism of relaxation, culture, and well-being against a backdrop of physical and spiritual purification in these places that breathe the strength of nature and piety at the foot of the sanctuaries of the patron saints of the places.
Etymology:
Chefchaouen also called Chaouen, Berber horns. This name was given in reference to the mountain peaks that dominate the city, because it is located at the foot of Jebel Mezedjel with crests in the shape of horns. Started in the early 15th century in 1415, the real construction of Chefchaouen took place in 1471 by the Cherif Ali Ibn Rachid Alami, on the return of a war campaign in Granada in Andalusia. This Cherif was a distant descendant of the prophet Muhammad and vassal of the Wattassides sultans
Initially composed of the Kasbah, fortress serving it as protection against external aggression, Chefchaouen was populated by Andalusians (Muslims of Andalusia), Megorachims, refugees of Jewish faith persecuted in 1391 in the Iberian Peninsula, and Moors, Muslims of Spain who originally were from the former Roman province of Maurétanie (North Africa).
In 1920, the Spanish will occupy the city Because of its spiritual character (El Madina Es Saliha with 20 mosques, 11 zaouias, 17 mausoleums), and judged as a holy city with as many sacred shrines, Chefchaouen was spared until it was bombed by the French aviation (Lafayette squadron) in September 1925, suspected of siding with El Khattabi, the Rifian hero, who was fighting the Spanish and French occupations.
Chefchaouen will become Moroccan again upon independence in 1956.
