Sunday 15 October 2017

Marrakech ,the City of Splendor

Nina Epton marveled at the colors of Marrakech and the many characters found wandering the city .

"As we approached Marrakech ,the earth turned salmon pink , deepening as it reached the walls of the town ,with its belt of majestic palm trees and the haughty Koutoubia Tower facing the snow -capped mountains .A city of splendour .The city of the oasis ,capital of the desert, spread out like a coral necklace offering at the feet of the Atlas , the door of the Sahara ,the domain of the Glaoui Pasha , known as the " King of the Sahara ", the richest ,most powerful and most mistrusted of the Pashas of Morocco ... . Wandering around the ruins of the domed sanctuaries of the local Holy men (or marabouts ), avoiding the swarms of grasshoppers at your feet ,you follow the peasant who is brining monkeys and camels to town ,or stand idly by women drawing water at the fountains .From the fresh ,green plantain trees ,ellipses of shadow fall like petals on the white cloaks of the travellers ,and you wander :" Have i been here before ? " Marrakech is different from Fez and from any other town in North Africa .It is more African . It possesses the magic of heathen incanatations in the beating of the nakkos ,the drumbeat which seems to echo the rhythm of life ,of pulse ,of creation itself .Marrakech has the savagery and the voluptuousness of a black mistress ,indifferent to the workings of the mind ,with littel use for the soul .Have i been here before ?The Chleuh girl dance ,the song of the flutes and the tambourines and the snake-charmers overcome you with an unaccountable intuition that you have reached the birthplace of the entire human race - a warm ,caressing birthplace ,far removed from the cold flints and caves and prehistoric sites of our northern skies"

NINA EPTON ,A JOURNEY UNDER THE CRESCENT MOON ,LONDON ,1949.
Picture 1 ( La koutobia mosque ).

Picture 2 (The famous square of Jamaa Lfna
picture 3 ( Musicians in the sqaure )

Monday 12 June 2017

Morocco 's highlights ( places to visit )


Morocco has many places to visit and see . Among them there is the Hassan 2 Mosque in Casablanca , the Jamaa Lfna square in Marrakech , the High Atlas mountains , the Sahara desert to watch the shooting stars at night , Fes with its tanneirs , the bleu city of Chefchouen to enjoy the stinning bleu streets , Assilah which has the most bautiful wall drawings .


This are some pictures of the highlights we mentined above with some discription .

An ambitious project (Hassan 2 mosque in Casablanca )

King Hassan 2 wanted to build a mosque at the most westerly point in the Muslim world .He was assured that this great building would be the North African equivalent of the Statue of Liberty .In 1980 work began on the mosque , which was built right on the sea .A laser beam visible up to 22 miles away shines from the top of the 650-foot minaret ,indicating the direction of Mecca. The prayer hall accomodates 25000worshipers ,with space for a further 80,000 pilgrims to pray on the esplanade 
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Place Djemaa El Fna in Marrakech .
The place Djemaa El Fna , the tradional meeting place for peasants and merchants from the Sous region , the High Atlas and the South , has become the heart of Marrakech , In the words of Jerome and jean Tharaud ,'' the soul of the south is here ,in the groups of onlookers who ,from morning to night ,gather and disperse around the street performers with the fluidity of smoke .''In the morning this vast square ,located on the edge of the souk district and bordered by shops and workshops ,is crowded with fruit and spice sellers .
A Berber village in the High Atlas mounatins.
This is an Atlas village .the pise buildings of the fortified villages are of different shapes and sizes . while you travel through the High Atlas Mountains , you will see a lot of this kind of villages along the way .The people who live in this villages still live very tradionally , all they do is farming and sheoherding .
Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah 
The fortified village of Ait Benhaddou has been classified by UNESCO as one of the world's cultural treasures .It is studded with crenelated towers and its buildings decorated with lozenged motifs and it is considered to be one of the most beautiful villages of its kind in Morocco . Many movies were shot in this Kasbah among them , Kingdom of heaven ,Gladitor ,...
The Sahara desert of Merzouga .
The best time to be standing on the summit of Erg Chebbi sand dunes is at dawn ; the sun emerges from behind a sea of dunes ,then seems to climb very radidly .pink turns to ocher ,passing through every shade of orange .And the best thing do also is to ride a camel and spend the night in a Berber tent in the middel .so fantastic this experiance !!!
Tanning in Fes 
Tanning is the process by which animal skins are rendered supple and rot-proof. First the skins ar washed and soaked to make them ready for tanning .Currying is the process by which the tanned leather ,known as ''crust-tanned''leather ,is impreganed with grease to turn it into the finished product .
Assilah drawings 
Assilah drawings 

Hassan tower in Rabat ( The capital of Morocco ).

A minaret known as the Hassan Tower is all that remains of the mosque .Begun in 1196 . The name Hassan (goodness)was bestowed on the tower in the 14th century but the reason this was done remains a mystery .The sultan Yacoub El Mansour had ambitions to built the second-biggest mosque in the Muslim world .but after hid death in 1199 the project was never completed .