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!

Marrakech, le festival International du Film

Comme toutes les naissances, dans le monde peu amène du cinéma, la création du Festival International du Film de Marrakech avait suscité beaucoup d’interrogations et vu fuser les critiques. Avec le temps, la succession des éditions de cette manifestation prouve le bien-fondé de cette démarche audacieuse.

Où dormir à Marrakech ?

Le festival international de Marrakech est devenue une grande manifestation cinématographique capable de rivaliser avec les grands existant dans le monde du 7ème art, mais la ville de Marrakech a dés le départ affiché la couleur en donnant au festival de Marrakech une identité qui est celle de "l'ouverture et de la modernité".
Né en 2000, Cet événement solennel permet, au delà de son impact substantiel sur les plans économique et touristique, la création non seulement d'une plate-forme de
rencontres, d'échanges et de dialogue mais également une promesse de collaboration entre ceux qui font et aiment le 7ème art.
Le festival est organisé par la Fondation du festival international du film de Marrakech et présidé par SAR le Prince Moulay Rachid.

Agadir, the Kasbah

Dominating the ocean of 236 m, it offers a remarkable sight on the city...


Where to sleep in Agadir?

The ruins of the old Kasbah, with its ramparts rebuilt after the earthquake, remain on the hill; impossible to escape the emotion when one penetrates in this immense necropolis. A 1746 inscription still decorates the entry gate: "Fear God and honour your king".

The Drâa valley

The Drâa Valley really starts to 70 km in the south of Ouarzazate, after precipice canyons and great silent spaces.

Where to sleep in Zagora?

Irrigated by the Drâa wadi, the fairy-like valley extends on nearly 200 km length, presenting a continuous ribbon of greenery. The cultivated fields and the palm plantations follow one another, marked out with fifty kasbahs and ksours (gathering of several kasbahs or houses) built of cob: to try to escape the raids of the desert nomads, the sedentaries of the valley gathered in ' ksour' protected by high walls flanked by watching towers.



From the region of Agdz until Mhamid, Drâa nourishes a narrow oasis almost uninterrupted. "On its banks, the bottom of the valley is an enchanter garden: fig trees, pomegranates confusing their foliages and spread on the ground a thick shade; above the high plumes of the date palms are balanced. Under this dome, it is only one carpet of greenery: the ground is only culture, only sowings; it is divided with a meticulous order into infinity of pieces, each one closed of cob walls; a crowd of channels furrow it, bringing water and freshness ". Written more than one century ago by Charles de Foucauld, these lines preserved all their value.

Laâyoune, presentation of the city

Built by the Spanish in 1932, Laâyoune was in the beginning a large oasis on the Saquia el Hamra wadi (mythical river to which J.M.Le Clézio refers in ' Desert ') which crosses the Moroccan Sahara from East to West.

Where to sleep in Laâyoune?
It is today the provincial capital of the Moroccan Sahara and a significant administrative and mining centre.

It is today the provincial capital of the Moroccan Sahara and a significant administrative and mining centre.

The city saw growing its economic importance thanks to the vicinity of the Boukra phosphate mines, to the proximity of the Canaries islands, and the will of the Moroccan government.

Laâyoune presents a central majestic place, bordered of craftsmen and jewellers shops. The buildings were designed in a modern style respecting traditional Saharan architecture. From the place expends direct streets sided by generally low houses, frequently capped with cupolas. The old neighbourhood, in the lower part of the city, with its cathedral testifies to the Spanish past.

It is also the city-stage from which starts the desert adventure with sand dunes covering a surface of 300 km to the south of the city and where halts several car rallies.