Excursion To Chefchaouen

Duration: 1 day.
Departure: Fez. Pick up at accommodation.
Tour languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian.

Warning: A minimum of two people is required for booking.

Description of the route:

The tour will start at 08:00 a.m., time when we will pick you up at the hotel or riad where you are staying, you will have five hours to tour the city center. Approximate time of arrival Fez, 21:00 hours.

The city was founded in 1471 on the site of a small Berber village by Moulay Ali Ben Rachid. Located in an enclave of difficult access that dominated the trade route between Tetouan and Fez and served as a base to curb the entry into influence of the Portuguese from Ceuta. The city is at the foot of two peaked mountains, the Tisouka (2,050 meters) and Megou (1616 meters high), which rise above the town like two horns. ChefChaouen means “look at the horns” in the Berber language.

During the 15th and 17th centuries the town prospered and grew considerably with the arrival of Jews and Moors expelled by the Catholic Monarchs and later monarchs. Many of them, Andalusians, who brought with them their architectural forms, which many of us would recognize as the typical white Andalusian village nestled in a mountain range. The characteristic blue color it now has, which was added later, is said to have been an idea of the Sephardim to repel mosquitoes. The city is built on a small valley. The oldest part of the city grows towards the top of the mountain, and at the highest point are the springs of Ras al-Ma. The center of the city is the square of Uta al-Hammam, which houses the Kasbah and a mosque with a tower with an octagonal base. Another landmark of the city is the Mosque of the Andalusians. The new city has been built below the old city.

Chaouen was for centuries a city considered sacred, where foreigners, especially Christians, were forbidden to enter until almost the beginning of the Spanish occupation in 1920. It was the troops of the Spanish army that opened Chauen by taking control of the entire northern part of present-day Morocco to establish the protectorate granted by the Algeciras Conference in 1906. When the Spaniards arrived, the city had an important Sephardic Jewish population that spoke Judeo-Spanish.

Precisely because the city is closed, its medieval appearance has been maintained with few alterations. The changes in the urban and population structure of Chauen are very recent.

Chauen was one of the main bases of the Spanish army, and in this city took place the ceremony of transfer of sovereignty of the region to Morocco, lowering the Spanish flag in 1956. As in other cities that belonged to Spain, most of its inhabitants speak Spanish.
The main population is that of the Ghomaras, with nine other small Berber tribes. It was Arabized but retains, nevertheless, some Berber particularities.

Today Chauen is an important center of tourism, which has attracted immigrants from other areas of Morocco, mainly from the south.

PLACES TO VISIT:

The Medina of Chaouen is, like all medinas, a medina of narrow streets that wind, uphill, with whitewashed houses in white and blue and paved with stone pavement, through which to get lost aimlessly because if there is something that can be assured is that you will find very photogenic magical corners to immortalize the aroma of freshly baked bread and spices.

1.- UTA EL HAMMAN SQUARE. It is the square of Chaouen, with capital letters. Its name means Baths Square, which comes from its old hammam. It is the meeting place for locals and foreigners, who in the shade of a huge old araucaria tree, chat, sing, play the drum, sell souvenirs. On one side the tables where they come and go mint teas, the tajines, on the other the old kasbah of ocher walls.

THE GREAT MOSQUE, YAMMA EL KEBIR, in the Uta El Hamman Square. End of the fifteenth century, from whose minaret depart the first calls to the faithful to come to pray. It is necessary to emphasize that in Chaouen the muezzins do not play the recordings of the chants but they do it “live and direct”, although always using the public address system. First it sounds in Yamma el Kebir and then in all the others.

THE KASBAH – The Kasbah is open to visitors. You can visit the prisons, climb the crenellated tower, the museum of Andalusian and ethnographic art in one of the pavilions and gardens.

MAKHZEN SQUARE – In the square is the Hotel Parador. There is an alley that goes northwest, which is called Bab el-Ansar and Ras el-Maa Fountain, one of the most beautiful places in Chaouen. If we go down next to the stream, we can see how women do the laundry and how the water mills still work.

THE OLD CARAVASAR OR FONDOUK, now occupied by small stores and artisans. The only one that survives of all those that were in the city is almost at the gates of Uta el Hammam (northwest, coming from Rue Granada). It is the place of reception of merchants who came to sell their products after a long caravan journey. This nomadic symbol, whose original usefulness has been lost in many countries where it was a commonplace, still functions as before. Downstairs there is a small bazaar where artisans work oblivious to those passing by. Upstairs there are rooms for merchants who want to rest, as in the last five centuries.

6.- SEE THE SUNSET FROM THE JEMAA BOUZAFAR MOSQUE from the Ras el-Maa.

In addition to these places the whole medina of the city, the old part, is interesting in itself: its fountains and narrow cobbled streets, full of small craft stores, its houses painted blue and white and its welcoming inhabitants. Strolling through its streets is a good way to spend the day, as we will find a thousand corners that will surprise us.

You can find more information in the urban guides section of this page.

WHAT TO BUY IN CHAOUEN:

Shopping in Chaouen is less stressful than in other cities in the country.

1.- Furniture
Great variety of carved or finely decorated doors, tables and other furniture, mirrors with richly decorated frames, metal or wooden tables with mosaic tops and fountains.

2.-Textiles
You will see a thousand carpets, blankets and Berber bedspreads typical of the mountainous areas of the Rif and Atlas, wool, very colorful and decorative, sold in almost all craft stores. Highlight the brightly colored bedspreads and aprons typical of rural women, which are made in the villages of the mountains near Oued Laoud.
Do not forget the typical Kaftan embroidery, djellabas, hats, laces and other colorful wool items, often made by rural women or in nearby Ouezzane.

3.-Basketry with palm heart. Made in the nearby villages of Beni Said. They are very typical Yebelías hats made of basketry and adorned with wool.

4.- Ceramics
The typical pottery of the area is Oued Laud, red clay and pottery Rifeña, very primitive, light clay and black drawings, which vary according to the people of origin. The ceramics of Safi and Sale are more colorful and more expensive. The best designed and most expensive is that of Fez.

5.- Perfumery and esthetics

There are plenty of stores where you can buy soaps and traditional cosmetics to care for skin and hair.
The most typical are the Azmizcle, perfume with aphrodisiac properties, the Ghassoul powder ideal for skin and hair, essence perfumes and flower creams, oils and creams of Argan, Nopal and Nigella, soaps of argan oil, lavender flowers, aloe and figs, black soap based on olive oil and eucalyptus, Kessa exfoliating gloves, henna to decorate the skin and Kholl, powder to darken eyelids.

Other typical purchases

Paintings and works of art by local artists, with typical prints of Chaouen.

As for food shopping, typical of the locality are goat cheese, honey from the nearby mountains, olive oil, Beni Derkour olives, dried figs and bottled mineral water.

You will also see stores where you can buy natural remedies based on medicinal plants.

The excursion INCLUDES:

Transfers to and from your hotel/riad.
Transportation throughout the tour in a private air-conditioned high-end vehicle with English-speaking driver/guide.

The excursion does NOT include:

Meals and beverages.
Entrance fees to museums and buildings.
Tips for visits.
Everything NOT specified in “the price includes”.

Excursion To Chefchaouen