Morocco Galleries

Ait Benhaddou : Ait Benhaddou is one of the most exotic and best-preserved Kasbahs in the entire Atlas region. It has been used for scenes for as many as 20 movies, notably Lawrence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth and Gladiator. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Ait Benhaddou

Ait Benhaddou is one of the most exotic and best-preserved Kasbahs in ...

Updated: Nov 30, 2004 9:05pm PST

Casablanca : I fell in love with you watching Casablanca Back row of the drive-in show in the flickering light Popcorn and cokes beneath the stars Became champagne and caviar Making love on a long hot summer's night I thought you fell in love with me watching Casablanca Holding hands 'neath the paddle fans in Rick's candle-lit cafe Hiding in the shadows from the spies Moroccan moonlight in your eyes Making magic at the movies in my old Chevrolet I guess there're many broken hearts in Casablanca You know I've never really been there so I don't know I guess our love story will never be seen On the big wide silver screen But it hurt just as bad when I had to watch you go Oh! A kiss is still a kiss in Casablanca But a kiss is not a kiss without your sigh Please come back to me in Casablanca I love you more and more each day as time goes by Casablanca is by far Morocco’s largest city, industrial center and port. Casa, as it is popularly known, has long been a beacon to Moroccans looking for a better life, with all the hallmarks of a brash Western European metropolis and a hint of the decadent languor that marks many of the southern European cities it so closely resembles. Free counter

Casablanca

I fell in love with you watching Casablanca Back row of the drive-in ...

Updated: Nov 30, 2004 10:00pm PST

Dades Valley : Dades Valley (the valley of roses) threads its course between the mountains of the High Atlas to the north and the rugged Jebel Sarhro range to the south. It is also nicknamed the Valley of A Thousand Kasbahs, because of the many beautiful ruined kasbahs.

Dades Valley

Dades Valley (the valley of roses) threads its course between the moun ...

Updated: Nov 30, 2004 8:49pm PST

Erg Chebbi : Morocco’s only genuine Saharan erg – one of those huge, drifting expanses of sand dunes that typify much of the Algerian Sahara. The magical landscape changes color from pink to gold to read at different times of the day. The movie “The Mummy” was shot here.

Erg Chebbi

Morocco’s only genuine Saharan erg – one of those huge, drifting exp ...

Updated: Nov 30, 2004 8:31pm PST

Fes : The oldest of the imperial cities, Fes is arguably the symbolic heart of Morocco. Long considered the center of Islamic orthodoxy, its allegiance, or at least submission, has always been essential to Morocco’s rulers. The medina (old town) of Fes, a UNESCO World Heritage, is one of the largest living medieval cities in the world – with the exception of Marrakesh, Cairo and Damascus, there is nothing remotely comparable. Its narrow winding alleys and covered bazaars are crammed with every conceivable sort of workshop, restaurant and market, as wells as mosques, medersas (colleges) and extensive dye pits and tanneries – a veritable assault on the senses. Though the medina may seem full of hustle and life, in essence Fes is a veiled, self-contained city where life moves to centuries-old traditions – a city which doesn’t easily bare its soul. The key is to give it time. Slowly you will begin to glimpse behind the anonymous walls.

Fes

The oldest of the imperial cities, Fes is arguably the symbolic heart ...

Updated: Nov 30, 2004 7:11pm PST

Marrakesh : Basking in the clear light of the south, Marrakesh has an entirely different feel from its sister cities to the north. It remains unmistakably more African than cosmopolitan Casablanca, more Moroccan than sanitized Rabat, and more Berber than proud and aloof Fes. It is still regarded as the southern capital, and as such attracts merchants and traders from the surrounding plains, High Atlas and the Sahara. Just as the color blue is synonymous with Fes, green with Meknes and white with Casablanca, red is the color of Marrakesh. A local Berber legend has it that when the Koutoubia was planted in the city’s heart, it poured so much blood that all the walls, houses and roads turned this color.

Marrakesh

Basking in the clear light of the south, Marrakesh has an entirely dif ...

Updated: Nov 30, 2004 9:26pm PST

Meknes : Meknes is known as the Versailles of Morocco. Had the enormous building projects of the Alawite sultan, Moulay Ismail, survived the ravages of time, then this metaphor might no seem so extravagant. Encircled by the rich plains below the Middle Atlas, Meknes is blessed with a hinterland abundant with cereals, olives, wine, citrus fruit and other agricultural products that remain the city’s economic backbone. Once the heart of the Moroccan sultanate, the city has a habit of imperceptibly growing on you.

Meknes

Meknes is known as the Versailles of Morocco. Had the enormous buildi ...

Updated: Nov 30, 2004 6:39pm PST

Rissani : It was from Rissani that the Filali (from whom the ruling Alawite dynasty is descended) swept north to supplant to Saadians as the ruling dynasty in Morocco. It did not happen overnight; the founder of the dynasty, Moulay Ali ash-Sharif, began expanding his power in the early 17th century in a series of small wars with neighboring tribes. His sons continued a slow campaign of conquest, but Moulay ar-Rashid was only recognized as sultan in 1668. Moulay ar-Rashid’s brother and successor, the deranged and violent Moulay Ismail, later became the uncontested ruler of Morocco, and emphasized his power by establishing a new capital at Meknes.

Rissani

It was from Rissani that the Filali (from whom the ruling Alawite dyna ...

Updated: Nov 30, 2004 10:11pm PST

Rabat : Morocco's capital has had something of a roller-coaster history, climbing at one point to the status of imperial capital only to descend to the level of a backwater village, before finding favor again. In contrast to great tourist destinations such as Fes or Marrakesh, there is virtually no sign of hustle and hassle here, not even in the souqs (markets). (The intro language above, as well as elsewhere within this "Morocco" subcategory, is excerpted or derived from Lonely Planet Morocco, 6th Ed., for non-commercial use only.)

Rabat

Morocco's capital has had something of a roller-coaster history, climb ...

Updated: Nov 30, 2004 6:13pm PST

Volubilis : A UNESCO World Heritage site, Volubilis is the largest and best-preserved Roman ruins in Morocco. It dates largely from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, although excavations indicate that the site was originally settled by Carthaginian traders in the 3rd century BC. One of the Roman Empire’s most remote outposts, Volubilis was annexed in about AD 40. At its peak, it is estimated that the city housed up to 20,000 people. As the neighboring Berber tribes began to reassert themselves, the Romans abandoned Volubilis around 280 AD. Nevertheless, the city’s population of Berbers, Greeks, Jews and Syrians continued to speak Latin right up until the coming of Islam. Volubilis continued to be inhabited until the 18th century, when its marble was plundered for the building of Moulay Ismail’s palaces in Meknes.

Volubilis

A UNESCO World Heritage site, Volubilis is the largest and best-preser ...

Updated: Nov 30, 2004 7:34pm PST