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MOROCCO
Location - North Africa; Capital - Rabat; Population - 32 million; Currency - Morocco Dirham MORE MOROCCO
During my 2014 visit to Ceuta I made time for a stay in Tangier and a few days to explore the city, as well as Asilah, Tetouan and the Moroccan border town of Belyounech, next to the Spanish island of Perejil - October 2014.
The Moroccan Dirham
The main gathering place in the new town is the Terrasse des Paresseux - Tangier
The Gran Cafe de Paris hosted many novelists and artists before and after WWII, when the city was an International Zone. More recently it appeared in The Bourne Ultimatum - Tangier
The cafe-lined Grand Socco lies next to the medina's entrance - Tangier
Entering the medina, Tangier's walled old town
The Tangier American Legation Museum celebrates the ties between Morocco and the United States - Tangier
Within the Legation is the Paul Bowles wing, with exhibits from the American author and composer who lived in Tangier
Beautiful shades of blue in the medina - Tangier
Get yourself lost exploring the old town - Tangier
Sellling vegetables and earthenware pots in a medina souq - Tangier
Rest your feet with a mint tea in the medina's Petit Socco - Tangier
The Grand Mosque lies at the eastern end of the medina - Tangier
Close to the Grand Mosque is a viewpoint. It's mainly a view of the industrial port but you can also see the medina's edge - Tangier
Bab el-Aassa is one the entrance gates to the kasbah - Tangier
Steps leading down from Bab el-Aassa - Tangier
Dar el-Makhzen, the former sultan's palace, is now the Kasbah Museum - Tangier
Intricate mosaics in the Kasbah Museum - Tangier
A kasbah alleyway - Tangier
An atmospheric place for a drink in the new town is Caid's Bar, in the grounds of the five-star El-Minzah Hotel - Tangier
The city has a good central beach where the corniche gets busy in the late afteroon/early evening - Tangier
There's a lively cafe-restaurant complex just off Boulevard Mohammed V, near Hotel Rembrandt - Tangier
The beach approach to the whitewashed old town of Asilah
The courtyard of Centre de Hassan II Rencontres Internationales, which hosts art exhibitions - Asilah
Al-Madina cafe is an ideal respite from the heat of the medina - Asilah
Asilah is famous for its summer festival, which includes superb street art
Colourful street art in Asilah
Watching the world go by - Asilah
"Clown's Exit. Do Not Park". Perish the thought! Asilah
Colourful Asilah
Ahead is the whitewashed Palais de Raissouli, also called the Palace of Culture - Asilah
The Palais de Raissouli is usually closed to visitors but you might get lucky around festival time in August - Asilah
In the southwestern corner of the medina is a lookout point. Straight ahead is the Palais de Raissouli jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean - Asilah
And down the steps is the Mujaheddin Graveyard - Asilah
I love this one. If you don't have windows just paint some. And with a tie hanging out, of course - Asilah
A tight spot for deliveries! Donkey and cart in Asilah
More colour in Asilah, where several art galleries are dotted around the medina
The low-key souvenir shops - Asilah
The cobbled streets and winding alleyways in Asilah's medina, less than an hour's train ride south of Tangier
What the old town would look like without restoration, though there's something appealing in its neglect - Asilah
Plantpots add a touch of class to Asilah
Medina - Asilah
A very worn Portuguese coat of arms stands above the Bab Homar entrance gate to the medina. Asilah, and much of Morocco's coast, was a Portuguese possession in the 15th century.
The medina stands over a small beach on the Atlantic Ocean - Asilah
Fishing boats in Asilah's small port
The Patio de la Luna Hotel and its palm trees lie just outside the medina walls - Asilah
San Bartolome Church in the new town - Asilah
The walk between the medina and the train station is around 20 minutes but the wide expanse of beach linking them is a pleasant stroll - Asilah
An hour's drive east of Asilah, close to the Mediterranean coast, is Tetouan
A covered walkway in Tetouan medina
Just inside the Bab Saida gate is Saida Mosque - Tetouan
Undercover: Getting some respite from the rain in Tetouan medina. It was a very wet day!
The 19th century courtyard of the Regional Nationalist Museum(?!) - Tetouan
The sun struggles to pierce through the rain clouds - Tetouan
A tradfitional room on show in the Ethnographic Museum - Tetouan
Walk through Lovers Park on the way from the Ethnographic Museum to The Ensanche - Tetouan
Avenue Mohammed V is the heart of The Ensanche, an area with much Spanish colonial architecture - Tetouan
Tetouan was the capital of the Spanish protectorate between 1912 and 1956, so Spanish and Moorish architecture are in evidence
Avenue Mohammed V leads to Place Hassan II - Tetouan
The Royal Palace takes pride of place in Place Hassan II, though it does mean the square is cordoned off for security reasons - Tetouan
On the edge of Place Hassan II are four towers designed by Modernist architect Enrique Nieto, famous in the Spanish enclave of Melilla - Tetouan
A 15minute taxi ride north of Tetouan, on the east coast, is the beach resort of Mdiq
A glass of Flag Speciale beer in the grounds of the Golden Beach Hotel - Mdiq
Dark clouds (again!) descend on the valleys surrounding Belyounech, a short drive from Ceuta
The town and bay of Belyounech. which stretches to the Ceutan town of Benzu in the distance
The border fence separating Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. My Ceuta pages 1 & 2 - Belyounech
Looking away from Ceuta towards Jebel Musa and Belyounech
Website and content Copyright © 2008-2015 Mark Wilkinson. All rights reserved.
LINKS
www.oncf.ma - Moroccan train timetables, fares, info etc
I am not responsible for the content of external websites.
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