Essaouira, the gates of the Medina

The Ramparts of the medina of Essaouira propose 2 types of gates architecture...
Bab Doukkala, Bab Marrakech and Bab Sbaa are masterpieces of Moroccan style characterized by their external and interior opening in Roman arches.


Where to sleep in Essaouira?

The second type of gates, as the gate of the Port built in 1769, is a significant example and a monumental realization with a triangular pediment of Greek style supported by grooved columns. It is connected to the port’s Sqala or Skala by a small bridge which spans a small basin where are anchored numerous fishery boats

Tetouan, history of the city

Tetouan city seems to have existed since the Arab conquest, it was known under the name of Tittawin which means water sources in Berber language.
Certain authors allot the foundation of this city to the Andalusian soufi Sidi Abdelkader Tabine which settled in Tetouan about 1148 and started to urbanize the site of Tetouan for the first time by the construction of a several residences, a mosque, shops and mills.


Where to sleep in Tetouan?

In 1286 Abou Youssef Ya' coub of the Merinides dynasty built the Kasbah of Tetouan which was used as a military base for the siege of Sebta.

In 1307, Abou Tabit an Emir of the same dynasty built a large suburb around this
Kasbah which was built by its predecessor.

Approximately in 1437 the city was destroyed, probably by the Portuguese of Sebta, it remains ruined and abandoned until the end of the XVth century when it was rebuilt.

According to many historical sources, the rebuilding of the city of Tetouan should be about 1492-93, just after the fall of Grenade. It was the work of Abou Al Hassan Ali Al Mandari an Andalusian refugee from the area of Grenade.

Just after its rebuilding in 1493 and while all the cities of the Mediterranean coast were occupied by the Portuguese and the Spanish, the city of Tetouan had become at the same time a Jihad base, a trade centre and one of the most famous piracy centres in the Mediterranean basin.

Parallel to these activities, the city continued to attract other migratory flows of Andalusian origin and was about to experience a great urban development as the creation of new districts which were grafted in the first formed core of Hay Al-Balad and Kasbah of Sidi Al-Mandri.

Ouarzazate, history of the city

Built in 1928 by the French, this garrison town (60 000 inhabitants) became the administrative capital of the Drâa area. Located at 1 160 m of altitude, in the confluence area of the Drâa wadi and Dades wadi, whose valleys are exceptional. With its ochre houses and its inordinately large central street, the city may disappoint, but its particular atmosphere already announces the Sahara.

Where to sleep in Ouarzazate?




The exceptional geographic situation of Ouarzazate confers to it the statute of stage town: it is the starting point of excursions towards the Dades valley to the East, the Oases road to the South and towards the Anti-Atlas Mountains. Ouarzazate, beyond all that: remains a door opening on the fabulous dream of desert adventure!