TETOUAN
The fine Arabo-Andalusian leans nonchalantly on a hill facing the sea and the foothills of the Rif. With its green and white houses, the crenellated ramparts whose endowment Moulay Ismail and his shady squares, its medina is one of the most charming country. As for the new town, which extends far to the west and that beset industrial areas, however, she still manages to retain its charm of old capital of Spanish protectorate.A haunt of pirates. The city was founded in 1305 or 1307 by the Abu Thabit Marinid as a base for operations against Ceuta. It quickly became the proximity of the sea helping, a pirate lair prosperous. It was therefore destroyed in 1399 by Henry III of Castile (the people being massacred or deported). It was practically deserted for a century. Repopulated in the early sixteenth century. by Muslims and Jews expelled from Spain, she became an active center of commerce and piracy. She again lost its importance after the blockage of the port, commissioned in 1565 by Philip II of Spain.Conversion. It grew in the early seventeenth century. of a new contingent of Muslim refugees from Spain. Tetouan was also an important new impetus during the reign of Moulay Ismail (1672-1727), through the development of trade relations with the West. France will be maintained until 1712 a consul. Tetouan was still in 1859, the object of an armed expedition launched against Ceuta. The Spaniards occupied it from 1860 to 1862. They returned in 1913 made it the e capital of their protectorate area.Duration: half a day is enough to make the city a complete and detailed picture along the promenade given below.During a brief stop, plan to spend approximately 1 hour at Medina.Moulay el Mehdi place is the center of the new town. Its buildings date back to the halfpipe Spanish protectorate, just as the church, which dates from 1926Boulevard Mohammed V, is lined pedestrian elegant building dating from the same period. it leads instead Jala al which was installed on a fragment of old wall with a small cannon.The archaeological museum is to the left of that place. It is preceded by a garden landscape on display or pithy parts are the more interesting entries ancient mosaic floor from the Roman era, Muslim headstones, etc..Hassan II square forms the link between the modern city and the medina. So it was entirely paved with mosaic, it has disappeared in favor of a more modern paving any and is now closed to traffic. In a cafe on the right you will see an old photo showing the place, which was one of the most charming of the city. It has been completely redesigned for the expansion of the royal palace. Part of the former Spanish Consulate and the facade of the Palace of the Khalifa were retained and joined by a monumental gateway that serves as input to the Dar el Makhzen.Dar el Makhzen, the former palace of the caliph, was the residence under the protectorate to the representative of the Sultan. Founded in the seventeenth century. the reign of Moulay Ismail remains, despite a deep renovation in 1948, a fine example of Moorish architecture.The medina is on the right of the palace. It consists of a maze of winding streets and tangled that sometimes sink or houses to reappear in the open air of a plot.Every street is devoted to a separate activity. Here work embroidery, there dyers, tanners or elsewhere weavers looked at their old trades. Urban dwellers in their djellabas white dress or their hobnobbing with the European rural Jebel wearing long brown coats, sometimes embroidered with colorful patterns, and peasant girt or draped in striped foutas (red striped cottons are a local tradition). Like other old towns, that of Tetouan is increasingly invaded pat rural populations. These are gradually replacing the old people who migrate to the new town or else heaven. Lack of urban culture, these populations often have less city than their predecessors.You enter through the medina street Ahmed Torres, recently restored as other parts of the city. is the street of jewelers, or necklaces, bracelets, cuffs for marriage, glitter in the window without any special protection. Souk el Houts s "opens to the left at the first intersection. This charming little square, planted with some trees welcomes vendors fabric and PortersSouk el Fuka is at the end of the street where they had committed. This is facilitated by stalls that sell particularly flat slabs (kesra) accompanying Moroccan meals. The spices will repent their subtle scents acres a little higher, giving way to the smell of wood and alfa, indicating the presence of carpenters and Nattier. Stalls selling female beauty powders to add color to the placeBab Ceuta is a little further north after the zaouia Derkaoua, decorated with tiles and sculptured plaster. This door is one of seven of the city. the tradition was that the dead always come to the right column. It opens on a vast cemetery.The nearby cemetery where thousands of Jewish graves, including several dozen patterns are etched abroad: these graves of Spanish Jews who returned from South America, allegedly inspired by pre-Columbian funeral rites. The reasons for distinguishing the graves of men from womenIt back down to the souk el Fuka we leave on the right to follow the narrow street el Djarrazin. It is bordered on the left workshops tanners (a small dead end allows access to the tanks or the workers employed skins). Consecrated beyond trade in leather, it provides access to second-hand clothes bazaar. The Gherza el Kebira, far more than second-hand dealers, is hosting a true antique fair. In one or two workshops, one can still see old men prepare colors for fabrics. they mix the dye and salt in a large pot they boil over a wood fire.OATUU, seductive plot pleasantly shaded, is nearby. It is the center of Bled district. that is one of the liveliest districts of the medina.Beyond the street el Saffain, partly covered, south of the square, you can reach the zaouia el Abbasiya oratory built in 1760 in honor of Abu al Abbas are Sebti, from Ceuta, and continue until the first mosque to picturesqueThe street of the souk el Tinsmiths renewed or Houts is already past.the old Jewish quarter opens before you, The Jewish Quarter was laid out along a rectilinear plan, during the reign of Moulay Siliman (1807).If there is a quarantine of Jews in Tetouan, the city has long had a very large Jewish community, so much that they called the small town Jerusalem.As in other Jewish quarter in Morocco, architecture differs from that of the medina with its balconies, its doors to European small steps preceded the large windows, its gates to the Andalusian, ares connecting its sometimes these homes . Tetouan is that opening the first Jewish school in Morocco. Adjacent to the Jewish quarter is the area or lived Souiqa General Franco during the Spanish protectorate.Ahmed Torres Street will take that one on the left, soon bends to the right and extends through the Rue Sidi el Yousti. It leads to Bab el Oqla, without crossing the gate, the street Sqala rises immediately on the right, to the museum (Museum of Moroccan Arts).The craft school located right in front of Bab el Oqla. In the morning we will try to visit this school, located in a beautiful house built in 1928, and will see young students working under the guidance of their teachers, and discover these workshops carpets, leather, wood inlay, pottery, mosaics, the zellige, etc.. the best work are on display in a room on the ground floor. Until recently, the craft was one of the main economic activities in the city.Northward along Avenue sen along the ramparts of the medina and the crossing through the gate Bab el Saidi, you can reach the mosque Sidi es Seized, patron saint of the city, recognizable by its two domes and minaret coated ceramic tile.Leaving the museum, run along the walls on the left to win the gardens Moulay Rachid, also called garden lovers, on the left the green and white building housed the old station of the railway linking Tetouan Ceuta. Nice view on the Jebel Ghorgez facing the city.The craft center, landscape in 1971, is facing the garden, past the station. it meets three objectives: to offer to tourists, to take no surprises, crafts and good quality, maintain quality and ensure the survival of certain traditional activities threatened by industrialization.Continuing on the boulevard, turn right onto the street to return Ourouba Place Moulay el Mehdi.
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