Abd el-Krim's Rif Republic Defeated 10,000 Spanish Soldiers at the Battle of Annual in 1921 Before Being Crushed by Combined French-Spanish Forces Using Mustard Gas Chemical Warfare Against Civilians; Morocco Was the First Country to Recognize American Independence in 1777 Before Any European Nation; Chefchaouen Was Inaccessible to Non-Muslim Europeans Until Spanish Military Forces Entered in 1920 and Found a Population Still Speaking Haketia Judeo-Spanish
Abd el-Krim defeating 10,000 Spanish soldiers at Annual 1921 then crushed by mustard gas; Morocco recognizing US independence in 1777 before any European nation; Chefchaouen inaccessible to non-Muslims until 1920 with a population still speaking Haketia Judeo-Spanish; the Tetouan UNESCO medina as the finest surviving Andalusian-Moroccan domestic architecture; Paul Bowles living in Tangier for 52 years; and Chefchaouen complete guide with Akchour waterfall hike and CTM buses from Tangier in 2.5 hours.
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The Spanish Protectorate in Northern Morocco - Chefchaouen and Tetouan Under Spain
The Spanish Protectorate of Morocco (1912-1956) and its legacy in northern Morocco and Chefchaouen: the history guide. The protectorate division (the 1912 Treaty of Fez divided Morocco between a French zone (the majority) and a Spanish zone (the northern strip and the Ifni enclave in the south): the Spanish zone was relatively poor and mountainous - the Rif and the Jebala mountains - compared to the fertile French zone: the Spanish zone capital was Tetouan: the Spanish in Chefchaouen (Chefchaouen was inaccessible to Europeans until 1920: the city was one of the last cities in Morocco closed to non-Muslim entry: the first non-Muslim Europeans to enter Chefchaouen in modern times were the Spanish military forces who captured the city in 1920: the Spanish military commander found a small, isolated Moorish-Andalusian city that had changed little since the 15th century: many of the inhabitants in 1920 still spoke a form of Haketia (Judeo-Spanish) and Andalusian Arabic as their primary languages: Abd el-Krim and the Rif War (the Rif War (1920-1926): the armed uprising of the Rif Berbers against Spanish and French colonialism: led by the Rif political and military leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi (Abd el-Krim): the Battle of Annual (1921): Abd el-Krim's forces defeated the Spanish army at Annual: approximately 10,000 Spanish soldiers killed: one of the greatest military defeats suffered by a European colonial power by an indigenous African resistance movement: the Republic of the Rif (1921-1926): Abd el-Krim established the Republic of the Rif (al-Jumhuriyya al-Rifiyya) - one of the first modern republics in the Arab world: eventually defeated by a combined French-Spanish force using poison gas (mustard gas) against civilian and military targets in the Rif - one of the first uses of chemical warfare against a civilian population in history.
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Chefchaouen Textiles and Crafts - The Wool Weavers and the Djellaba Tradition
Chefchaouen crafts - the textile and weaving traditions of the Rif mountain city and the distinctive local craft production: the crafts guide. The Chefchaouen market (the weekly Chefchaouen market (the Monday and Thursday market in the Place Mohammed V outside the medina): the primary market for the surrounding Rif mountain villages: the market goods: local agricultural produce (herbs, honey, olives, olive oil), livestock, and the distinctive local crafts: the textiles (the Chefchaouen textile tradition: the primary craft is hand-woven woolen products in the distinctive Chefchaouen color palette: the colors (the Chefchaouen textile tradition uses indigo blue, white, and black as the primary colors in combination with natural undyed wool (cream/brown tones): the woven products: woolen blankets (handira), woven storage bags (kbira), and the distinctive Chefchaouen djellaba: the djellaba (the Chefchaouen djellaba is a distinctive regional variant of the standard Moroccan djellaba outer garment: the Chefchaouen djellaba is woven from coarse mountain wool in natural undyed white or cream with blue and black geometric border patterns: the djellaba hood (the Chefchaouen djellaba has a distinctive pointed hood (qob) in a different weave from the body: the weavers (the traditional hand weavers (nassajin) of Chefchaouen work on upright wooden frame looms: the looms are often set up in the doorways of workshops in the medina souks: the leather goods (the local leather tradition: the hand-stitched leather bags (sharaba) and the babouche slippers in the distinctive Chefchaouen blue: the goat cheese (jben chaouni: the fresh local goat cheese sold in the weekly market: produced by the Rif mountain Berber farming communities).
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The Berber Jebala Culture of the Rif - The Indigenous People of Chefchaouen's Mountains
The Jebala Berber culture of the western Rif mountains - the indigenous Amazigh population whose culture underlies the Islamic-Andalusian culture of Chefchaouen: the indigenous culture guide. The Jebala (the Jebala (also Jebli) - the Berber Amazigh communities of the western Rif mountains and the Jebala region of northern Morocco: the Jebala are among the most Arabicized of the Moroccan Berber groups - the majority speak Moroccan Darija Arabic rather than a Tamazight Berber dialect (the Arabic-Berber language shift in the Jebala region was largely complete by the 17th-18th centuries): the Jebala cultural identity (the Jebala maintain a distinct cultural identity marked by: the specific style of Jebala women's dress (the Jebala women's haik - the large white or cream woolen wrap dress worn over the head with the face partially uncovered): the Jebala music (the Jebala musical tradition: the malhun sung poetry tradition in the Jebala dialect: the female qasba flute players: the Jebala traditional dances): the Jebala settlements (the Jebala settlement pattern: fortified hilltop villages (douar) of stone and rammed earth construction in the mountain valleys: the grain stores (agadir): the communal grain storage fortresses of the mountain communities: the market (the weekly tribal market (souk) as the primary economic and social gathering of the Jebala community: the Chefchaouen market serves the surrounding Jebala mountain communities: the colonial disruption (the Spanish Protectorate and the subsequent Moroccan state disrupted traditional Jebala governance structures: the post-independence period saw significant internal migration from the Rif and Jebala mountains to the coastal cities (Tangier, Tetouan, Casablanca): the current situation (the Jebala mountain communities are among the poorest in Morocco: the cannabis economy is the primary income source for many Jebala and Rif Berber farming families).
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Tetouan - The Andalusian City Near Chefchaouen and the Spanish Protectorate Capital
Tetouan - the primary city near Chefchaouen and the former capital of the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco: the city guide. The location (Tetouan is located 60 km northeast of Chefchaouen and 57 km southeast of Tangier at the foot of the Rif mountains: the primary city of the Spanish zone of Morocco: the Tetouan medina (the UNESCO World Heritage-listed medina of Tetouan (1997): the Tetouan medina was largely rebuilt in the 15th century by Andalusian Muslim refugees from Granada and other Spanish cities after the Reconquista: the medina has a distinctively Andalusian character - the whitewashed houses, the wrought iron window grilles (rejas), the cobblestone streets - that distinguishes it from the traditional Moroccan medinas of Fes and Marrakech: the Andalusian character (the Tetouan medina contains the finest surviving Andalusian-Moroccan domestic architecture in Morocco: the whitewashed house facades with ornate carved plaster decorative bands and wooden balconies: the network of derbs (residential alleys): the souks (the souks of Tetouan are less touristy than those of Fes or Marrakech - the medina is used primarily by the local population: the National Museum of Tetouan (the ethnographic and archaeological collections of northern Morocco: the Musee de la Kasbah: the Spanish colonial architecture (the Spanish Protectorate capital built a significant colonial city adjacent to the Tetouan medina in a Neo-Moorish architectural style (combining Spanish colonial architecture with Moroccan Mudejár elements): the result is a distinctive hybrid urban landscape: the Tetouan fine arts (the Tetouan School of Fine Arts (Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Tetouan) - one of the most important art schools in Morocco: founded during the Spanish Protectorate: the Tetouan embroidery (Terz Tetouani) - the Tetouan embroidery tradition: distinct geometric patterns in polychrome silk thread).
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Tangier - The Gateway City and Day Trip From Chefchaouen
Tangier - the international port city at the entrance to the Mediterranean and the most accessible major city on a day trip from Chefchaouen: the Tangier guide. The location (Tangier is located at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar: the northernmost city of Morocco: visible across the Strait of Gibraltar from the Spanish coast (the distance from Tangier to Tarifa (Spain) is approximately 14 km): the international period (the Tangier International Zone (1923-1956): Tangier was governed as a jointly-administered international zone by Britain, France, Spain, and several other European powers during this period: the International Zone gave Tangier a unique status with no customs duties, a free press, multiple currencies, and a tolerance for activities (gambling, drug dealing, and sexual conduct) that were illegal in the surrounding European colonial territories: the American writers (Tangier's unique status attracted a community of American and European writers and artists in the 1950s-1960s: the primary Beat Generation connection: Paul Bowles (1910-1999) - the American writer who lived in Tangier for 52 years until his death: his novel The Sheltering Sky (1949) brought Tangier to the attention of the American literary public: William S. Burroughs wrote parts of Naked Lunch in Tangier: Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac visited Tangier: the Grand Socco (the Grand Socco (Place du Grand Socco - the primary market square of the Tangier medina and the junction between the medina and the ville nouvelle: the American Legation Museum (the American Legation Building in Tangier: the first American public property outside the United States (1821): the first country to recognize American independence was Morocco (1777) - the Sultan of Morocco opened his ports to American ships before any European nation: the Kasbah (the Tangier Kasbah and the Dar el-Makhzen (the former Moroccan royal palace - now a museum).
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Chefchaouen Complete Guide - Blue City, Rif Mountains, and Northern Morocco
Chefchaouen complete guide - the comprehensive reference for visitors to Morocco's most photographed city and the broader northern Morocco region: the complete guide. The city (Chefchaouen (Chaouen, Xauen): population approximately 45,000: altitude approximately 600-900m in the western Rif mountains: founded 1471 by Ali ibn Rashid: the blue medina (the entire medina painted in varying shades of blue from cerulean to indigo: the probable origin - Jewish refugee community from 1492 Spanish expulsion: amplified by tourism from the 1980s: the primary sights: the Plaza Uta el-Hammam (the central square with the octagonal-minaret Grand Mosque and the Kasbah museum): the Ras el-Maa spring and waterfall (the eastern medina water source): the Spanish Mosque viewpoint (30-40 min hike above the medina - the best panoramic view): the blue alleyways for photography (best before 9am): the Kasbah museum (Moroccan traditional art and Islamic history displays): the natural setting (the Rif limestone mountains surrounding the city: the Talassemtane National Park (the protected park east of Chefchaouen: the Akchour waterfall hike (16 km east - 1.5-2 hours each way through the park gorge): the crafts (Chefchaouen local products: the jben goat cheese, the Rif honey, the woolen djellabas, the blue leather goods): the logistics (no airport, no train: CTM buses from Tangier 2.5h, Fes 4h, Casablanca 5.5h: the season (year-round: spring and autumn are the best seasons: July-August is hot and crowded with Moroccan domestic tourists: Ramadan is particularly atmospheric in the medina: the nearby cities (Tetouan 60 km (UNESCO medina): Tangier 78 km (the literary city, the Strait of Gibraltar, the first country to recognize US independence).