Tour Length: 8 days / 7 nights
See Also
ANDALUSIAN MOROCCO. A Discovery in Living Art.
MOROCCO - Central region of Morocco and North (Rif Mountains)
Detailed Programme |
Day 1
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ARRIVAL IN CASABLANCAProgramme Upon arrival at Casablanca Airport you will be met by a representative of the travel agency, who will assist you with all formalities. Visit the Mosque of Hassan II. Transfer to Rabat for overnight. |
Day 2
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RABAT / SALÉ / FEZProgramme In the morning take a walking tour of the Qasba of the Udaya (an Arab tribe from the Sahara whose members were recruited by Mulay Isma‘il to form a military corps stationed in Rabat) and Medina. Then visit the esplanade of the tower of Hassan (the minaret of an unfinished Almohad mosque built in 1196) and Muhammad V Mausoleum, Rabat Royal Palace, Chella necropolis, converted into a royal necropolis by the Marinid Sultans. Continue to the town of Salé, shelter of many Andalusian refugees, moriscos, after their last expulsion from Spain in the 17th century. Embellished by the Marinid sultans, Salé was an important centre for commerce and piracy thanks to the Andalusian merchants. The city became gradually independent from the sultans of Marrakesh – a sort of republic - in the 17th century. Visit Marinid Bab Mrissa (1260-70) built by an architect from Seville, and Marinid Madrasa, founded in 1333.Transfer to Fez for overnight. Reference to Exhibition Trail: ITINERARY VIII.1,2 |
Day 3
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FEZProgramme Discover Fez, one of the largest medieval cities in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Visit the ‘Attarin Madrasa, founded in 1310-31, one of the finest Marinid monuments, Batha Museum (a palace built by the Alawid sultans Mulay al-Hasan and Mulay ‘Abd al-‘Aziz in the 19th century), Mulay Idris mausoleum, al-Qissa gate (restored by the Marinid Sultan Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub in the 13th century and rebuilt after the 1735 earthquake), mosque and madrasa (built by the Alawid Sultan Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdallah in 1757-90). Continue to Qarawiyin Mosque (founded in 857 by Fatima al-Fihri, a fine example of Andalusian architectonic and decorative influences during the Almoravid period) and Library, Sharratin Mosque, Andalusian Mosque, built to celebrate the Andalusian group invited by Idris II to live in the newly founded Fez in 1808, Shawara Tanneries, Stawniyine Funduq, similar in its plan to Nasrid funduqs in Granada, built in the 14th century, Najjarin Square and Bu Inanya Madrasa. Visit the centres of the ancient Jewish community of Fez: the Synagogue museum, Mallah (the Jewish quarter built by the Marinids in the 15th century), the house of Maimonides and Funduq Lihudi, the old Jewish quarter. Overnight in Fez. Reference to Exhibition Trail: ITINERARIES II, III, IV |
Day 4
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MEKNÈS / MULAY IDRIS ZERHUN / FEZProgramme Depart for the royal city of Meknès, a UNESCO World Heritage site with 40 km of defensive walls and monumental gateways. Visit Dar Jamai Museum, Mulay Isma‘il Mausoleum (the mausoleum of the second Alawid sultan, Mulay Isma‘il (died 1727), based on the palatial framework of Granada, Bu Inaniya Madrasa (1336), Pavilion of the Ambassadors, Grain Silos and Basin of Norias, both built during Mulay Isma‘il’s reign. Continue to Mulay Idris Zarhun. This small town is renowned as the site of the mausoleum of the prince who founded the first Moroccan dynasty, Mulay Idris Ibn ‘Abdallah (a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad), who died in 1793. Return to Fez for overnight. Reference to Exhibition Trail: ITINERARY I |
Day 5
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CHEFCHAOUEN / TANGIERProgramme Board the bus for a journey to Tangier. On the way stop at Chefchaouen, a small city founded at the end of the 15th century by Muslim refugees from Spain. See Outa Hammam Square (15th century), Swika quarter (15th century), al-Sabbanin and Andalusian quarters, built to accommodate the second wave of Andalusians after 1492, Zawiya Raissuniya (thought to have been founded by the famous princess Saida al-Horra), Qasba with mosque, Bab al-Ansar, Ra’s al- Ma’ source, ‘Ayn Swika Fountain and Weavers’ Workshop. Continue to Tangier for overnight. Reference to Exhibition Trail: ITINERARY V |
Day 6
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TANGIER / KSAR ES-SEGHIR / BELYOUNESH / TÉTOUANProgramme Take a tour of Tangier, the meeting point of Mediterranean cultures for more than 2,000 years. Visit the Medina, one of the oldest ports of the city and the Qasba with 17th-century Dar al-Makhzen, formerly the Sultan’s palace and now a museum. Discover small houses with Nasrid and Marinid ornamentation, Duwayrat Qubbat Sidi al-Bukhari, Dar al-Kabira, and Saint Andrew’s church. Drive to Ksar es-Seghir, where a fortress was erected in 708 at the start of the campaign for Islamisation and which later served as a debarkation port for the Moors thrown out of al-Andalus. Continue along the Mediterranean coast to Belyounesh to visit the remains of what used to be a village of second homes from the 11th to the 15th century, when the Portuguese conquered Ceuta and Belyounesh was abandoned. Reach Tétouan for overnight. Reference to Exhibition Trail: ITINERARY VII |
Day 7
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TÉTOUAN / CASABLANCAProgramme In the morning visit Tétouan, the centre of Andalusian Morocco, which received the first groups of Mudejar who escaped from the Reconquista. The city was rebuilt by the Granadian warrior Sidi al-Mandri (15th century), and its monuments still bear the marks of Andalusian influence. In 1609, waves of refugees fled to Tétouan from Spain. The city was enlarged and new walls were built in the 18th century. Visit the Ethnographic Museum (closed on Sunday), the walls and the three ramparts, remains of the Qasba built by Sidi al-Mandri, and Erzini Mosque, built in 1591 by an Andalusian family who moved to Tétouan. Continue to the School of Arts and Crafts (closed on Saturday and Sunday) and Bab Okla and then to Lebbadi Palace (19th century), the Great Mosque (19th century), Silos Mtamar (a prison for Christian prisoners until the 18th century), Zawiya Sidi ‘Ali Baraka (18th century), Rue al-Mokadem, Madrasa Lukash. Return to Casablanca for overnight. Reference to Exhibition Trail: ITINERARY VI |
Day 8
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DEPARTURE FROM CASABLANCAProgramme On departure day you will be collected from the hotel by a representative of the travel agency, who will accompany you to Casablanca airport and assist you until check-in. |
PAST & PRESENT OPTION
On request the visit to historical monuments and sites can be combined with features representing the country today:
Casablanca
Bouregreg project (Rabat). Launched in 2005, this project will help transform the valley into a prestigious social centre, create 100,000 jobs and boost economic development.
Fez
Meet representatives of the Women’s Association for the Protection of Environment and Childhood.
Tétouan
A visit to the School of Traditional Arts and Crafts and the Ethnographic Museum and to the first private wind turbine farms of Morocco.
Programme And Prices Are Subject To Change. © Museum With No Frontiers, 2009 – 2013