$Unique_ID{COW02510}
$Pretitle{249}
$Title{Morocco
The Imperial Cities}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Embassy of Morocco, Washington DC}
$Affiliation{Embassy of Morocco, Washington DC}
$Subject{town
fez
city
century
morocco
still
el
marrakesh
old
river}
$Date{1990}
$Log{Table 1.*0251001.tab
Table 2.*0251002.tab
}
Country:     Morocco
Book:        Welcome to Morocco
Author:      Embassy of Morocco, Washington DC
Affiliation: Embassy of Morocco, Washington DC
Date:        1990

The Imperial Cities

     Four towns that are commonly called "imperial cities" have been
successively capitals: Fez, Meknes, Marrakesh and Rabat. These towns are
special and differ from other cities in Morocco. Their monuments are numerous,
including mosques and "Medersas".

     The social institutions and religious foundations give evidence of the
interest shown by the various succeeding kings of Morocco to these political
and cultural cities. These four cities have played an important role in the
country's history. They still serve as models, repositories of traditional
sciences and as examples of devotion and refined moral values.

     However, each of these four capitals has its own character, due to its
population, geographical situations and the physical nature of its
environment.

     Thus Fez, so reserved that she seems secretive and mysterious, would
never be ambiguous or improper. Even its poorer districts and dark alleys
present the visitor with noble and distinct qualities.

     Rabat remains a model of equilibrium. The old families still recall the
days of Grenada, Seville and Malaga before the "reconquista".

     Since independence diplomatic missions and embassies representing
international institutions have added to the distinguished quality of Rabat as
a great capital.

     Marrakesh dazzles with its colour, its lively crowds, renewed souks, its
palm grove, palaces and gardens that are as austere as they are charming.

Fez

     O Fez! In you are gathered all the beauties of the world. How many are
the blessings and riches that you bestow on your inhabitants.

     Thus was Fez honoured by the poet as the queen of cities, the jewel of
Northern Africa. Throughout history the city has witnessed periods of
prosperity and austerity. It has resisted all the storms and still surprises
us with its prodigious vitality and extraordinarily youthful spirit. Nothing
is disturbed in the blue of its skies and nothing is aggressive in the
exuberance of its vegetation or in the light that bathes its houses, markets
and streets.

     It was founded in about the 9th century. The ancient "medina" is
composed of two towns near Oued Fez that were only joined together in the
11th century under the reign of the Almoravid Sultan Youssef Ben Tachfine.

     The town is at the crossroads of two important trade routes: one leads
to Sijilmassa, the gate of Black Africa, and the other opens to the East and
the rest of the Maghreb.

     The Fez region communicates with the Maghreb through a dip between the
Rif Massif and the Middle Atlas, called the Taza opening. Beyond that
opening stretches the Algero-Moroccan steppe.

     Fez is Idriss's town and the sanctuary of science and etiquette. Having
contemplated the town's founding, Idriss II lifted up his hands and invoked
the Almighty as follows: "O my God! Might this town be one of science and
might it be a place where Your Book shall be recited and Your Commandments be
respected. Might its inhabitants, as long as the town continues to exist, be
faithful to Your Commandments!"

     His prayer was listened to. The great Karaouiuine University has
survived for eleven centuries to perform its duty as a religious and
intellectual centre whose influence transcends Moroccan boundaries.

     The various monuments of Fez are witnesses to its fortunate past. Its
craftsmen, safeguarding venerable traditions transmitted from one generation
to another, devote care and great interest to making articles which are small
works of art.

     Strolling dreamily up and down in the alleys and souks of Fez is a
unique pleasure. Every turn of a street hides a surprise. An old minaret
emerges, burnt by the ever glittering sun, while a square, bathed in shadows
and mysteries, takes the visitor out of time.

     Behind the walls water jets sing and Seville oranges bloom. One has to
unveil one by one the different faces of the town, whose secret gardens and
tiled patios are so welcoming.

     The city is made up of two main districts alongside the Fez River. These
are the "Karaouanais" district in the South-West and the "Andalusians"
district in the North-East. The people of the two districts are similar.
There are patrician families, craftsmen and shopkeepers in both communities,
unified long ago.

     The Merinid Sultans added a third group to the whole in the 14th
century. Fez Jdid (the new Fez) was founded apart, north of the old medina.

     The new district contained the royal palace, the high Makhzen officials
and parts of the troops with their officers.

     The well restored royal palace still serves as a residence to His
Majesty when he visits Fez. The "Mellah", or Jewish district, is adjacent to
the palace.

     Fez is an inexhaustible topic that the many books written about it have
never managed to explain in all its complexity. In Fez, the medina is much
more interesting than the new or European city. Nevertheless, the "Ville
Nouvelle", established in Protectorate days, is a worthy accomplishment, with
its large avenues, modern buildings, cinemas and cafes. Since independence
the Fassi Middle class have built large villas and luxurious hotels.

     One cannot leave Fez without visiting its immediate outskirts: Sefrou,
Bhalil, and most of the thermal springs spoutning from the Middle-Atlas.
Those of Moulay Yacoub, about 20 kilometres away, gush out at a temperature
of about 60 degrees and cure skin diseases and rheumatism. The Sidi Harazem
springs are only 15 kilometres towards the north east on the road to Taza.
The healing properties of these waters have been known since ancient times.

     In the centre of a small valley and in the shade of palm trees a spring
gushes hot water (30 degrees). A small white "Koubba" is easily singled out
of the green background. Pools have been arranged around this rustic
sanctuary. Whether in summer or in winter, children and adults play about in
these pools. The women's pool is behind the Mausoleum. This site, frequently
visited by the inhabitants of Fez, is particularly lively in spring time.

     The resort has for some years now been arranged and modernized. It
includes a comfortable hotel and a factory for bottling Sidi Harazem water,
a product increasingly appreciated as a still table drink.

     Thirty kilometres from the Idrissid capital, Sefrou is hidden away at
the centre of innumerable gardens. Every spring the town celebrates the
cherry festival. The Oued Agai crosses the town, falling over rocks in
waterfalls before reaching the town. These crystal-clear, fresh and
easy-going waters have been known to suddenly change into a furious torrent
and devastate everything in their passage.

     Bhalil, located on an elevated peak, must have served as a guardroom
at the time of the Romans. There had been lights that could be seen from as
far as the Zerboun Massif.

     Bhalil is a big village where there are still cave dwellings. Fez and
its surrounding areas have particularly interesting and attractive features.
However, other capital cities are no less interesting. Situated 60 km east of
Fez, Meknes still preserves the memory of the great Sultan Moulay Ismail.

Meknes

     Founded around the 11th century Meknes entered the history of Morocco
only in the 17th century when Moulay Ismail made it the capital of his
empire.

     The city witnessed many vicissitudes during the Almohad, Merinid and
Saadian eras; it was only with the second Alaouite king (1672-1727) that the
town truly prospered.

     The stylistic unity of Meknes gives the town an incomparable charm,
enhanced by its beautiful surroundings.

     The town's monuments, ramparts and even its ruins are handsome. Moulay
Ismail, with his sense of grandeur, pulled down the old Merinid Kasbah and
replaced it with walls, forts, granaries, stables and gun factories.

     A whole army of labourers, masons and technicians, selected from
Christian slaves, worked diligently on the construction.

     Huge gates decorated with mosaic panels, mosques with elegant minarets
and tiled public fountains still perpetuate the memory of the great sultan
who was a contemporary of Louis XIV.

     One never tires of admiring the massive city gates and their decoration,
the colossal stables and the noble structures of the royal palace.

     The Bou Fekrane River flows across a green plain ornamented with
gardens. It separates the modern part of the town from the old districts, such
as the medina, the old palaces and the gardens.

     The El Hdim square, adjacent to Bab Mansour Ellj, the Jamai Palace and
the Nouar Jamaa form a lively town centre. Potters' shops border the western
side of the esplanade while street sellers, public letter writers, story
tellers and entertainers occupy the square.

     The "heri" storehouse is beyond the palace buildings. It looks like a
fortress near a huge lake. A gate leads to the royal granaries where vast
arched rooms contain wells equipped with wooden chain-pumps turned by mules.
Walls and arches of lime concrete support a large roof that has been
converted into a hanging garden where some ancient olive trees protect clumps
of flowers with their shade. Amazingly, these centuries-old olive trees air
themselves on the roof of a military building!

     The Zerhoun mountains dominate the town without oppressing it.

     The surroundings are no more than a vast orchard where olive trees
alternate with different kinds of fruit trees and well-known vineyards.

     Moulay Idriss, Volubilis, El Hajeb, Azrou, the Aghlelmane of Sidi Ali,
are some of the interesting tourist resorts that deserve a visit.

     Moulay Idriss houses the tomb of the first Idrissid king, Idriss I.
Moroccans still venerate him. Until recently the town, a sacred place, was
forbidden to foreigners.

     The town, clinging to the sides of a mountainous massif a thousand
metres high, offers a wild aspect with abrupt cliffs, deep gorges and dense
wild vegetation where olive and citrus trees mingle with vines.

     Volubilis, the Roman town, is not far away. The town used to be
encircled by a rampart two and a half kilometres long with six gates. A
regional capital, Volubilis prospered until the fourth century. The main items
that have been excavated are exhibited in the museum built on the site, but
the valuable bronzes were taken to Rabat where they are exhibited in the
Museum of Antiquities.

Rabat-Sale

     The large Bou Regreg estuary offers a fine view.

     Gently sloping hills lead to tranquil plains covered with cork oaks.

     On the river banks two different towns developed: Rabat and Sale,
designated by the Arab chroniclers as "the town of the two river banks".

     The designation is apt, for the river appears as a link between the white
town of Sale and the copper coloured rock of the Oudaias in Rabat.

     "The town of two river banks" constitutes a magnificent whole of calm and
balance.

     Rabat draws its name from the ancient Ribat (fortified camp.).

     Around 1150 the Almohad Abdel Moumen changed the Ribat into a fortress
from which the Moslems set out for Andalusia. He surrounded the camp with
formidable ramparts that encircle an enclosure of five hundred hectares. His
armies, thus protected, lived in tents surrounded by a crenelated fence and
within reach of a vast mosque for prayers, discussion of current issues and
decision making.

     Preachers exalted the holy war and stimulated the courageous troops. It
seems that neither the Mosque of Hassan nor its famous tower were ever
finished.

     To defend the large parade ground from the dangers that might emerge from
the sea, a wall, more modest than the previous one, was erected at the meeting
point of Bou Regreg and the Ocean, and protected the permanent garrison
responsible for watching over that coastal point: the Kasbah of the Oudaia.

     The wall follows the cliff's irregular lines. Only one gate facing the
land gives access to the Oudaias. It is a bayonet passage made up of two
openings that efficiently defend huge double doors iron-clad and ornamented
with wrought iron nails.

     The Oudaias' gate, decorated with inscriptions in Koufic letters, is a
fine monument and inspires admiration and respect.

     The medina stretches down the Kasbah. It is the work of Moslems driven
away from the Iberian Peninsular in the early 17th century.

     The town is charming with its narrow whitewashed streets, its ribbed
vaulting, and its overhanging balconies made up of mashrabiayas. House doors,
ornamented with stone colonnades, compete with multicoloured mosaic.

     The Foundouks and "souks", filled with easy-going crowds, are modest and
agreeable. The reputation of the rugs and embroidery of Rabat is well
established.

     The administrative district was founded in 1912. The "Mechouar" includes
the royal palace, the offices of the Prime Minister, Royal Guard, Ministry of
Endowments and Islamic Affairs, and other institutions.

     The Ministry district is in the same area.

     Since independence the modern part of town has extended considerably, for
it stretches nowadays to all the surrounding hills and is expected to join
Temara on the way to Casablanca.

     Rabat and Sale are undergoing feverish development nowadays, especially
building: luxury villas and high buildings flourish everywhere, in keeping
with the rules of careful town planning.

Sale

     Located on the right bank of the Bou-Regreg River, the town dates back to
the 9th century. The Almohads built a mosque and an arsenal in the town, while
the Merinids made it a fortress and a place of refined culture, both literary
and religious. They surrounded it with ramparts, built the monumental gate of
Bab Mrissa, a medersa, a medical school that was converted into a foundouk and
a "Zaouya" of which only ruins remain today.

     In the 17th century Sale was made an independent republic and engaged in
action against the Portuguese and the Spanish, and then against the French and
the English.

     Following retaliatory measures from the English Sale established better
relations with Europe. However, in the 18th century Sale once again encouraged
piracy and was bombarded, which led to an end to this dangerous activity for
good.

     The town's inhabitants had always been shrewd traders, so they resumed
their trade and devoted their efforts to increasing their wealth. It is worth
mentioning that Sale is one of the "Hadrya" cities, a town of culture and
refined life such in Fez or Tetuan.

     The town's population prides itself on having a cuisine, dress, hygiene
and piety whose roots go far back in history.

Casablanca

     Everybody knows the name of the Moroccan economic metropolis but there
are few who know its long history. It was Punic, Roman and Berber and was
called "Anfa". The Portuguese occupied it in 1575 and gave it the name of Casa
Branca. By the end of the 18th century the Spanish, having obtained the
privilege of using the port in trade, named the town "Casablanca". Moroccans,
however, translated the name into "Dar Beida".

     Already in the 12th century historians mentioned the port of Anfa, a
centre for the neighbouring regions such as Chaouia, Rhamna and Tadla. Anfa,
at the time, played the role of linking these regions to Europe and thus
allowing them to export their surplus of corn, wool, leather, beeswax and oil.

     In modern times the town has astonishingly extended from 20 000
inhabitants in 1900 to more than three million nowadays.

     Casablanca has indeed become the economic capital city of Morocco. It is
the country's trade and industrial centre, as well as one of the greatest
ports of Africa. Casablanca is also a business and banking city. Nevertheless,
some of its districts still cling to the architectural tradition of one-storey
houses while others are exclusively made up of villas immersed in greenness.
The city still preserves some traces of heroic times when it had to fight the
invading Portuguese in 1468 and 1515. It was only in 1755 that they were
chased away for good. Some rampart remains hide the old "Medina" with its
houses built around patios, its mosque and lively souks. Beyond the walls
luxury hotels, restaurants and shops abound.

     The residential districts are situated on the Ain Diab and Anfa hills
that follow the curve of the ocean. Leaving the town after visiting its parks,
aquarium, international fair, cafes and night clubs, the coastal road holds
more agreeable surprises for the traveller.

El Jadida Safi Essaouira

     A series of beaches stretches for kilometres.

     The town of Azemmour stands about eighty kilometres south of Casablanca.
Perched on its cape, the town is reflected in the waters of the largest
Moroccan River, "Oum-Er-Rabia".

     Only 96 km separate Casablanca From El Jadida, the town that was built by
the Portuguese and once called Mazagan. Moroccans call it Brija, "the Small
Fortress". A nice holiday resort with a welcoming beach, and a historical
city, El Jadida is endowed with qualities that attract the visitor.

     The old part of the town has preserved traces of Portuguese occupation.

     The rampart walk, bastion platforms with their rusty cannons, the
famous Portuguese cistern that was more a storeroom and an arms room than
anything else; all these constitute a valuable historical and touristic
heritage.

     Beyond the town towards Oualidia rise vestiges of a "Ribat" (fortified
camp) that dates back to the 12th century. Inside the ramparts some white
houses encircle the famous mausoleum and the mosque of Sidi Abdellah, whose
"moussem" is celebrated each year in early July.

     All the lands of the region are rich and fruitful, for "Doukkala" means
the country of the best fruits and vegetables, the country of mint, gardens
and "henna".

     Stretching alongside the Doukkala plains until the Tensift Oued, the Abda
plains rise up and overlook the Ocean without offering any safe harbours. The
Jorf Lasfar port is somewhat recent. Some promontories mark the coastline. On
one of these promontories Safi raises its crenelated walls and its white
terraces dominated here and there by "Dar El Bhar" (see castle) towers.

     The castle was built by the Portuguese at the beginning of the 16th
century and was magnificently restored after Independence.

     Safi is an amiable, discretely picturesque town. The town is important
thanks to the port that exportis Youssoufia's phosphates and products from the
"Maroc Chimie" industrial complex that was created to reinforce the town's
economic potential.

     Fishing has given birth to a gradually flourishing canning industry.
However, Agadir remains the major sardine port of Morocco.

     Located south of Safi, Essaouira, previously called Mogador, is a
pleasant seaside resort and one of the most attractive Moroccan cities.
Fortified like other towns, Essaouira is divided into several districts: the
two Kasbahs, the Mellah and Medina. The town was once chosen by the Roman Juba
II in the 1st century BC for purple dye manufacturing.

     The town's present layout was designed by a French architect, Theodore
Cornut, who was then a prisoner of the Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah.

     With rectilinear streets, well proportioned domes and well designed
shops, Essaouira is a model of an Arab town but devised by a foreign
architect.

     From above "Scala" platform, one can enjoy a panoramic view embracing the
port and the fortifications. Essaouira is 169 km from Agadir. The road is
said to be among the most picturesque in Morocco.

Agadir

     Agadir recalls dark memories. The tragedy of February 29, 1960 still
lingers. On that night earthquake demolished the town, but life, fortunately,
always triumphs over death. The will and determination of men have revived
Agadir from its ashes.

     The city's reconstruction was achieved thanks to the assistance of town
planners, architects and renowned landscape architects. They drew plans and
devised housing units and buildings of daring architecture. A town of hope,
Agadir is new, with its wide avenues and white houses surrounded with
flower-filled gardens. Shops, cafes, bazaars and commercial centres surround
an elegant minaret. The port and the industrial zone are located farther off.

     The High-Atlas and Anti-Atlas chains of mountains protect the site from
the violent southern winds. A light breeze purifies the unchanging blue sky,
while a vast beach welcomes sun lovers.

     With its date palm shaded bay, golf course, tennis courts and water
sports clubs, Agadir offers the visitor a wide range of entertainment. The
city's first-class accommodation attracts an increasing number of tourists.
Agadir is also the route to other fascinating realms. The Sous road leading to
Taroudant crosses the Inezgane road and Ouled Teima. One reaches Tiznit rises
from a smooth landscape out of the shape of its ramparts and square towers
designed in a pre-Saharan architectural style. Palm trees and small green
meadows abound. The streets have a special oasis atmosphere about them. Being
in Tiznit gives the impression of being in the Sahara, a feeling reinforced
when crossing the Tizi-Mighert Col that rises to an altitude of a thousand
metres, only to come down towards Bou Izakern and Goulimine. A new road from
Agadir leads to Marrakech, the Queen of the South, crossing some of the most
beautiful landscapes in Morocco.

Marrakesh

     It is hard to evoke the many charmings traits of Marrakesh in just a few
lines. The town's charm, exuberance, atmosphere and colour are hard to
describe.

     It is better to wander around such a town without a guide, for it is
preferable to lose one's way, melt into the crowds and listen to the songs and
noises that breathe peace and living joy.

     The majestic "Koutoubia" dominates the red houses, the old palaces and
the dim palm grove.

     Seen from afar, it stands out in profile against the grey, purple sides
of the High-Atlas with their snowy peaks.

     The medina of Marrakesh is a typical example of the Islamic city. Houses
communicate across the roofs where women lead a free life, sheltered from the
gaze of men.

     The streets are narrow but behind the blind walls patio-gardens offer a
profusion of water and flowers.

     For the layman the Medina of Marrakesh is nothing more than a disorderly
maze. What a big mistake! The layout of this huge settlement is strictly
logical.

     The city centre is occupied, as is the rule in Islamic towns, by a
sanctuary. The Ben Youssef medersa constitutes the axis of Marrakesh from
which nearly all the streets lead to the city gates.

     Marrakesh was once the capital of the Almoravids, Almohads and the
Saadians. At the beginning it was en encampment leaning against the Atlas and
as close as possible to the Sahara.

     It might have been a town of tents arranged around a Kasbah. Marrakesh
has retained the features of a caravan transit town and meeting place.

     Founded in 1602 by Youssef Ben Tashfine, the town profited from the
favours of his successors who embellished and fortified it. The Saadians
enriched Marrakesh with the Badi Palace, deprived since then of its past
splendour, and provided the town with a necropolis on whose marble the history
of that renowned dynasty is written.

     Marrakesh, where life is pleasant, has inherited a taste for sanctuaries
and imposing mosques from its Almoravid and Almohad origins.

     The "Koutoubia" mosque, with its minaret that can be seen from the four
cardinal points, testifies to the faith that animates the Marrakshis.
According to legend, the three spheres, surmounting the skylight of the famous
minaret, were made of solid gold. That gold, however, came from the jewels
offered as a token of piety by the wife of El Mansour, the Almohad king.

     The mosques of the "Kasbah" of El Mouassine and Bab Doukkala are also
vast and well designed. They are frequently visited, especially on Fridays and
feast days. As in Fez, some modest oratories are scattered throughout the
town. The Ben Youssef Medersa competes in beauty and magnificience with the
medersas of Fez.

     It a dazzling intellectual and spiritual centre. It seems hard to
enumerate all the splendours of the red city. Palaces and gardens abound, the
palm grove is a place of wonder while everything has a special flavour in
"Jamaa El Fna", the hectic good-natured square.

     In the morning quiet people do their shopping in the square, which
changes in the afternoon into a fair with acrobats and jugglers, while late in
the evening the sound of lutes and "bendirs" is heard over the hullabaloo of
outdoor dinners.

     Beyond the ramparts, vast avenues lead to Gueliz, the modern district
with buildings, villas, cafes and gardens that smell in spring of orange
blossom.

     Forty kms south the road crosses the Ourika Valley before reaching the
Oukaimiden, located at an altitude of about 2 600 m in the High Atlas Chain.

     Oukaimiden is the most important winter sports resort in Morocco. Usually
snow-covered from December to April, the resort is equipped with several ski
lifts and a chair lift rising to as high as 3 265 m.

     Hotels, country cottages and camp sites offer accommodation for skiers in
winter, and walkers throughout the rest of the year.

     It took us little time to leave Marrakech in its luxuriance and to reach
the high mountain: two worlds that stand close to each other. We should bear
in mind that Morocco is a country of many contrasts.

The Great South

     Beyond the mountains the Great South invites us. It offers one of the
most captivating faces of Morroco, a country of "Ksours", oases, sand and cool
valleys.

     The Draa, Dades and Todra are names that prompt dreaming. They are
connected by small tracks through the desert. Beyond the Tizin-Tichka Col one
becomes immersed in a typically Saharan atmosphere.

     Ouarzazate is our first stopping place. It stretches along the banks of
the "Oued" that takes its name and joins the "Oued Dades" before flowing into
the Saharan river, the Draa.

     The Taourirt Kasbah fascinates and enchants by its size and the way the
effect of light modifies its appearance according to the time of day.

     The Draa Valley is the cradle of the Saadian dynasty, one of the most
influential dynasties of Morroco.

     A green belt follows the course of the Draa Valley. The Desert is only a
few hundred metres away. The "Oued" cools the restful shade of the trees
growing on its banks. A bustling life is led in the shade of palm trees that
stand out against stark walls. The villages are scattered throughout the huge
oasis.

     Men are either farmers or craftsmen. Long ago they learned how to live in
a closed economy for they only expect food from the land, which they farm
well. Their wives spin and weavie the wool and hair of sheep and goats.

     To reach M'hamid, the real gate way to the Sahara, one has to go beyond
Agdz, which dominates the valley of its Ksar whose palm grove stretches to
Zagora.

     Beyond M'hamid is the Hammada Draa, a rocky tableland traversed by camel
herding nomads.

     From M'hamed it is possible to reach the southern part of Tafilalet along
some difficult tracks.

     However, this route is of little interest.

     To reach Rissani, it is necessary to go back and set out from Quarzazate
to discover the Dades Valley and the Todra Gorges.

     This pre-Saharan region fascinates even those who are hard to please.

     One crosses the Skoura palm grove, a country of perfumed roses with its
"Kalaa of M'gouna" and Boulmane at the limit of the gorges.

     Ochre cliffs rise steeply. Women, dressed in black or indigo-blue, draw
water from a spring that gushes out of a rock, wash their linen on the
bank of a small river, sing and laugh cheerfully.

     About 50 kms farther on stretches one of the most renowned pre-Saharan
tourist centres. Tinghir. The Todara Gorges are still more impressive than the
Dades.

     From Rachidia, the chief town of the province of Tafilalet, Goulmima and
Erfoud, one can reach Rissani and the oases of the Ziz Valley.

     Rissani, formerly fortified, was founded on the site of the antique
Sijilmassa, the legendary city that controlled the most important
trans-Saharan road.

     The city's wealthy traders might have been chased away by nomads or by a 
Ziz flood in the 15th century.

     Only some fragments of walls remain from this city. It is there once
again that the realm of oases and "Ksours" stops.

     To the west of Hammada Draa towards the Atlantic Ocean, Goulimine is a
meeting place for the great desert convoys. Its weekly market gathers all the
camel traders who come to buy, sell, barter, be informed, and entertain
themselves. These are the famous blue men descended from the Almoravid
dynasty.

     They are essentially nomads and their camel herds constitute their sole
wealth. They love the vast spaces that they are used too. Despite the poor
vegetation, burning sun and freezing nights, the Sahara is enough for them to
live in happiness.

     For these abstemious, tough men, the Sahara means Freedom.

The Saharan Provinces

     Occupied for a long time by Spain, the southern provinces regained
independence after the famous Green March.

     Launched in November 1975 by His Majesty Hassan II, this peaceful march
in which 350 000 volunteers took part aimed at recovering the vast territory
(270 000 km^2) that the Spanish had decided to leave.

     This was a real triumph, for shortly afterwards the Saharan provinces
(Seguiat el Hamra and Rio de Oro) onde again became part of the kingdom in the
terms of a Hispano-Moroccan treaty.

     Today the Green March symbolizes the country uniting around her monarch
and territorial integrity.

     The Sahar nomads move about these provinces that have all the beauty and
roughness of the immense Desert.

     The huge state investments allocated to the development of this land have
resulted in intense urbanization around Laayoune, Smara and Dakhla.

Laayoune

     The city was founded by the Spanish in the 1930s near an old fortress
that Moulay Ismail had erected in 1679, south of Seguiat el Hamra.

     Laayoune witnessing a boom in development nowadays. The city's
population, about 20 000 inhabitants in 1975 and 50 000, in 1983 currently has
100 000 inhabitants. The city is populated with Moors, either from the Sahara
or from TanTan, and with the many technicians, civil servants and teachers
who come from the different regions of Morrocco to take part in the
development of the region, which has become the leading priority of the
nation.

     Hospitals, Schools, Workshop, mosqhes, law courts, stadiums and an
international airport with a yearly capacity of 500 000 passengers, Laayoune
is a great hive buzzing with activity.

     The port has grown to export phosphates from the Boukraa Mines, which an
automatic conveyor belt 100 kilometers in length carries to the city.

     The coast, rich in fish, attracts many foreign fishing vessels.

     Visitors can bathe at Foum El Qued, 25 kilometers to the west of the
city. There are magnificent beaches lying between the dunes and the ocean.

     Countless cave drawings can be found throughout Seguiat El Hamra.

     Smara, 240 kilometers from Layoune and 225 kilometers from Tan-Tan on the
new Saharan road, has also enjoyed significant economic development: the
population has doubled in five years and is now 22,000. Wells, large housing
settlements and administrative buildings reflect considerable
activity in the city.

     Founded towards the end of the nineteenth century by Sheik Ma El Alnim,
Smara has no historical monuments. However, there are vestiges of the Kasbah
(the wall) and the Grand Mosque (formerly Saharan university).

     Cave drawings can be found around the city, particularly in Asli and
Oued Miran.

     Dakhla, in the Great South, was founded by the Spanish in 1884 and was
given the name Vila Cisneiros. It now has a population of 22,000. Its vast
beaches are a surfer's paradise, but the major source of wealth is still
fishing: some of the finest fish in the world are found off the coast here.

     Morocco, multi-faceted from north to extreme south, gives a warm welcome
to all those seeking a close communion between the land and men, and
those seeking an atmosphere of venerable but still vivid tradition. All
recognize Morocco's hospitality, natural courtesy and deep respect for
others, whatever their race or religion.

[See Table 1.: The Morocco National Tourist Office List of Overseas
Delegations]

[See Table 2.: List of Delegations in Morocco]