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Moulay Idriss Zawiya
Here is the heart of Fez: the mausoleum of the citys founder and the most venerated pilgrimage spot in Morocco. You cant enter unless youre a Muslim, but you can peek inside. Its worth walking around the building to see the beautiful carved and painted wood porches, the wall zellij
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Batha Museum
Housed in a wonderful 19th-century summer palace and converted to a museum in 1916, the Batha Museum houses an excellent collection of traditional Moroccan arts and crafts. Historical and artistic artefacts include fine woodcarving, zellij and sculpted plaster, much of it from the
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Kasbah les Oudaias
This occupies the oldest part of the city, the site of the original ribat, and commands powerful views over the river and ocean from its cliff-top perch. The kasbah is predominately residential and the narrow streets are lined with whitewashed houses - most of which were built by M
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Jardins Exotiques
Created by French horticulturist Marcel François in 1951, these gardens were declared a Natural Heritage site in 2003 and reopened in 2005 after several years of restoration. They are divided into the Jardin Nature , plantations that evoke the exotic vegetation the horticulturalist
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Badi Palace
As 16th-century Sultan Ahmed el-Mansour was paving the Badi Palace with gold, turquoise and crystal, his court jester wisecracked, ‘It’ll make a beautiful ruin’. That jester was no fool: 75 years later the place was looted. Today it’s hard to guess the glories of el-Badi (the Incom
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Palais el
As 16th-century Sultan Ahmed el-Mansour was paving the Badi Palace, near Pl des Ferblantiers, with gold, turquoise and crystal, his court jester wisecracked, ‘It’ll make a beautiful ruin’. That jester was no fool: 75 years later the place was looted. Today it’s hard to guess the gl
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Koutoubia Mosque
Five times a day, one voice rises above the Djemaa din in the adhan ( call to prayer): that’s the muezzin calling the faithful from atop the Koutoubia Mosque minaret. Excavations confirm a longstanding Marrakshi legend: the original mosque built by Almoravid architects wasn’t prope
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Koubbat as
South of Bab el-Mansour lies the mechouar (parade ground), now known as Pl Lalla Aouda, where Moulay Ismail inspected his famed Black Guard. After bringing 16,000 slaves from sub-Saharan Africa, Moulay Ismail guaranteed the continued existence of his elite units by providing the so
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Sijilmassa
Just before you reach Rissani are the ruins of Sijilmassa, the capital of the first virtually independent Islamic principality in the south. Its foundation is lost in myth, but by the end of the 8th century it was a staging post for trans-Saharan trade. Caravans of up to 20,000 cam
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Ali ben Youssef Medersa
‘You who enter my door, may your highest hopes be exceeded’ reads the inscription over the entryway to the Ali ben Youssef Medersa, and after almost six centuries, the blessing still works its charms on visitors. Founded in the 14th century under the Merenids, this Quranic learning
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Lac de Sidi Bourhaba
Inland from Mehdiya is the beautiful freshwater Lac de Sidi Bourhaba, part of a larger protected wetland reserve. As a refuelling stop for thousands of birds migrating between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, the lake provides some of the best birdwatching in the country, especially
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Djemaa El
Think of it as live-action channel-surfing: everywhere you look in the Djemaa el-Fna, Marrakesh’s main square and open-air theatre, you’ll discover drama already in progress. The hoopla and halqa (street theatre) has been non-stop here ever since this plaza was the site of public e
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Medina
Across the street from the Qasr al-Bahr stands the walled medina. The main street, Rue du Souq, runs northeast from Bab Lamaasa, and you’ll find most of the souqs, stalls, jewellery, clothing and food in this area. To the right of this street, down a twisting alley, are the remains
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Fès el
The medina of Fès el-Bari (Old Fès) is the largest living medieval city in the world. Its incredible maze of 9400 twisting alleys, blind turns and souqs are crammed with shops, restaurants, workshops, mosques, medersas (theological colleges), dye pits and tanneries. A riot of sight
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Ramparts & Medina
Assilah’s largely residential medina is surrounded by the sturdy stone fortifications built by the Portuguese in the 15th century and it is these walls, flanked by palms, that have become the town’s landmark.The medina and ramparts have been restored in recent years and the tranqui
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Palais de la Bahia
Imagine what you could build with Morocco’s top artisans at your service for 14 years, and here you have it: La Bahia (the Beautiful) has floor-to-ceiling decoration begun by Grand Vizier Si Moussa in the 1860s and embellished from 1894 to 1900 by slave-turned-vizier Abu ‘Bou’ Ahme
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Art Deco Buildings
If you can see past the traffic, fumes and general chaos of central Casablanca youll discover the citys rich architectural heritage, a blend of French-colonial design and traditional Moroccan style known as Mauresque architecture. Developed in the 1930s and heavily influenced by th
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Ruins
The main gate to Lixus is in the green railings that border the Larache–Tangier road. Inside the railings to the left are the remains of the garum factories, where fish was salted and the prized paste produced, beloved in Rome (in a neat parallel, nearby Assilah still has an anchov
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The Seven Ksour
The landscape of Figuig is dotted with seven ksour that make up the town, all the same ochre colour as the earth. Each controls an area of palmeraie and its all-important supply of water. In the past, feuding families would divert these water channels to wash around the foundations
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Mausoleum of Moulay Idriss
Although this twin-hill town is a veritable maze of narrow lanes and dead ends, it is not hard to find the few points of interest. The first is the Mausoleum of Moulay Idriss, the object of veneration and the reason for the country’s greatest annual moussem in late August. An impor
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