Agadir

Agadir

Agadir (Amazigh: Agadir, ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ, Moroccan Arabic: أڭادير) is a major city in southwest Morocco, capital of the Agadir province (MA-AGD) and the Sous-Massa-Draa economic region. A majority of its inhabitants speak Amazigh as a mother tongue.

Agadir in video:

A video of Agadir Ouflla or The Casbah ruins:

The Casbah or Agadir Oufella:
The Casbah (Agadir Oufella, Agadir le haut, Agadir N'Ighir, or Agadir de la colline) was, along with Founti by the sea, the oldest district of Agadir. An authentic fortress with winding streets and lively, the Casbah was built in 1572 by Moulay Abdallah al-Ghalib. Above the front door; today, the original inscription in Arabic and in Dutch reads: "Fear God and honour the King."

Of this fortress there remains, after the earthquake of 29 February 1960, a restored long high wall that surrounds land that is not buildable. The view, however, is exceptional over the bay of Agadir and the ports. The old people of Agadir remember the famous "Moorish café" of the Casbah and its panoramic view.

The hill bears the inscription in Arabic: "God, Country, King" which, like the walls, is illuminated at night.

Etymology
The word Agadir means in Amazigh language "wall, masoned wall enclosing a town, fortress, town".

Description
Agadir has a population of 678,596 (2004; census figures for the agglomeration include the nearby cities of Inezgane and Aït Melloul). The population of the city proper is estimated at 200,000. The mild winter climate (January average midday temperature 20.5°C/69°F) and good beaches have made it a major "winter sun" destination for Northern Europeans.
The city is located on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Souss River flows into the ocean.
Agadir is an important fishing and commercial port, the first sardine port in the world, (exporting cobalt, manganese, zinc and citrus).It is also a seaside resort with a long sandy beach. Because of its large buildings, wide roads, modern hotels, and European-style cafés, Agadir is not a typical city of traditional Morocco, but it is a modern, busy and dynamic town.
Agadir is famous for its sea food and agriculture.

The city's main neighborhoods are:
Secteur Touristique-Taddart-Hay Adrar-Founty-Iligh-Sonaba-Ihchach-Les Amicales-La ville nouvelle-Nouveau Talborjt-Cité Suisse-Lakhiyam-Dakhla-Extension Dakhla-Al Houda-Salam-Riad Assalam-Hay al Hassani-Anza-L'Erac (Bouargane).-Quartier Industriel Tasila-Tilila-Quartier Residentiel-Quartier Al mohammadi

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Chefchaouen or chawen

Chefchaouen or Chaouen

Chefchaouen is one of, if not the, most beautiful places to see in northwest Morocco, also called "the blue city" or "the blue town" because of the blue colors that dominates most of its buldings.
Watch the beauty of Chefchaouen in these videos:

In this second video you can see more of chefchaouen plus Akchour or "Akechour", wich is a beautiful natural place near chefchaouen, with breathtaking waterfalls and beautiful clean water:

More about Chefchaouen from Wikipedia:
Chefchaouen or Chaouen (Amazigh: ⵜⵛⴻⴼⵜⵛⴰⵡⴻⵏ Accawn, Arabic: شفشاون/الشاون, Spanish: Chauen, lit. "horns") is a city in northwest Morocco. It is the chief town of the province of the same name, and is noted for its buildings in shades of blue.Chefchaouen is situated in the Rif Mountains, just inland from Tangier and Tetouan. The city was founded in 1471, as a small fortress which still exists to this day, by Moorish exiles from Spain led by Moulay Ali Ben Moussa Ben Rached El Alami to fight the Portuguese invasions of northern Morocco. It was known as one of the main concentrations of Moriscos and Jews who sought refuge in this mountainous city after the Spanish Reconquista in medieval times. In 1920, the Spanish seized Chefchaouen to form part of Spanish Morocco. Spanish troops imprisoned Abd el-Krim in the kasbah from 1916 to 1917, after he talked with the German consul Dr. Walter Zechlin (1879–1962). (After defeating him with the help of the French force Abd el-Krim was deported to Réunion in 1926). Spain returned the city after the independence of Morocco in 1956.

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Ifrane

Ifrane

Ifrane Morocco in video:

Ifrane (Arabic: إفران/يفرن‎; Amazigh: ⵉⴼⵔⴰⵏ/ ⵢⴼⵔⵏ Ifran) (nicknamed Little Switzerland) is a town and ski resort in the Middle Atlas region of Morocco  (population 73,782 in November 2014). Ifrane is 1665 metres (5,460 ft) in altitude and is part of the Meknès-Tafilalet region. In Tamazight, the regional Amazigh language, "ifran" means caves.

One of the cleanest cities in the whole world

Background

Developed by the French during the protectorate era for their administration due to its Alpine climate, this Moroccan town has a remarkable European style, as if it were an Alpine village. Because of its elevation, the town experiences snow during the winter months and a cool climate during the summer. Ifrane is also the place where the lowest temperature was ever recorded in Africa, -24 °C in 1935. Animals to be found in the vicinity include the threatened Barbary Macaque. Among the local tree species are the native Atlas cedar, Scrub oak and the introduced London plane.

The first permanent settlement of the area dates to the 16th century, when a saintly sharîf by the name of Sîdî 'Abd al-Salâm established his community in the Tizguit Valley, seven km downstream from the present town. By the mid-17th century the zâwiyah was well enough established to receive an extensive iqtâ' (land grant) from the 'Alâwî sultan Mûlây Rashîd b. Muhammad. While the founder's lineage was ethnically Arab, the inhabitants of the village today mostly speak Tamazight.

Ifrane is a colonial “hill station,” and a “garden city.” It is also an “imperial city,” a mountain resort, a provincial administrative center, and a college town.

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Al Hoceima

Al Hoceima (Amazigh: Biya or El-Ḥusima, Arabic: الحسيمة) is a city and in the north of Morocco on a northern edge of the Rif Mountains, on the Mediterranean coast. Al Hoceima and its surrounding regions have a population of 395,644 (2004 census). Al Hoceima city is the capital of the Taza-Al Hoceima-Taounate region. It is situated in the territory of the Ayt Weryaghel and Ibeqquyen tribes of the Rif, who speak Tarifit Berber, locally called Tamazight.

History

The Spanish started to develop Al Hoceima around 1925. General Sanjurjo landed with his troops on the beach of Al Hoceima during the Rif Rebellion and claimed the territory for Spain. He named the territory Villa Sanjurjo, after himself. Many locals still refer to the city as "Villa".

The Spanish troops built houses, schools and hospitals above the beach, creating the beginnings of the town. In the 1920s and '30s the town had almost no growth in population. Its name changed from Villa Sanjurjo to Villa Alhucemas, and the few streets above the beach were still occupied by mainly Spanish soldiers and their families. The first major was Florian Gómez Aroca.

After Morocco gained its independence in 1956, Al Hoceima developed quickly, and the Moroccan government changed its name from the Spanish Villa Alhucemas to Al Hoceima.

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Tetouan

Tetouan (from the Berber Tiṭṭawin, Arabic: تطوان, Spanish: Tetuán, French: Tétouan) is a city in northern Morocco. The Berber name means literally "the eyes" and figuratively "the water springs". Tetouan is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea. It lies a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about 40 mi (60 km) E.S.E. of Tangier. In 2004 the city had 320,539 inhabitants (census figure). Tetouan's civil airport Sania Ramel Airport is located 6 km to the east.

Arabic is the official language but it is not used for everyday dialogue. The city has its own dialect, a particular citadin variant of non-hilalian Arabic which is distinct from Jebli Arabic. However, Jebli Arabic is predominant since people from the neighboring rural areas settled in the city during the 20th century rural flights. The use of Spanish and French is still widespread especially by the businessmen and intellectual elites. Its main religion is Islam. A small Christian minority lives in the city.

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Tanger or Tangiers

Tangier or Tangiers (UK: /tænˈdʒɪə/, US: /tænˈdʒɪr/; Berber: Tanja or (archaic) Tingi, Arabic: طنجة Ṭanjah), is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 (2012 estimates). It lies on the North African coast at the wester

n entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. It is the capital of the Tangier-Tetouan Region and of the Tangier-Asilah prefecture of Morocco.

The history of Tangier is very rich due to the historical presence of many civilizations and cultures starting from the 5th century BC. Between the period of being a Berber settlement and then a Phoenician town to the independence era around the 1950s, Tangier was a refuge for many cultures. In 1923, Tangier was considered as having international status by foreign colonial powers, and became a destination for many European and American diplomats, spies, writers and businessmen.

The city is currently undergoing rapid development and modernization. Projects include new 5-star hotels along the bay, a modern business district called Tangier City Center, a new airport terminal and a new football stadium. Tangier's economy is also set to benefit greatly from the new Tanger-Med port.

Tangier's sport team I.R.T. (or Ittihad Riadi de Tanger) is a prominent football club with a large following base. Tangier will be one of the host cities for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations football tournament, which shall be played at the new Ibn Batouta Stadium and in other cities across Morocco.

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Marrakech

Marrakech

Marrakech or Marrakesh (Amazigh: ⵎⴻⵕⵕⴰⴽⴻⵛ, Merrakec, or Murakuc, Arabic: مراكش Murrākuš, local pronunciation: Mərrakəš), known as the "Ochre City", with a population of over 1,000,000 inhabitants is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history. The city of Marrakesh is the capital of the mid-southwestern economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, near the foothills of the snow-capped Atlas Mountains, being also the third largest city in Morocco according to the 2004 census.

 Like many Moroccan cities, the city of Marrakesh comprises both an old fortified city (the medina) and modern neighborhoods, the most prominent of which is Gueliz, for a total population of 794,620 and 1,063,415 in the metropolitan area (2004 census). It is served by Ménara International Airport (IATA code: RAK) and a rail link to Casablanca and the north.

 Marrakesh has the largest traditional Amazigh market (souk) in Morocco and also has one of the busiest squares in Africa and the world, Djemaa el Fna. The square bustles with acrobats, story-tellers, water sellers, dancers and musicians. By night food stalls open in the square turning it into a huge busy open-air restaurant.

Quick tour in Marrakech in this video:



Marrakech in the 50s in Video:

More photos of Marrakech:

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Ouzoud Waterfalls

Ouzoud Waterfalls (French: Cascades d'Ouzoud) (110 m high) are located in the Grand Atlas village of Tanaghmeilt, in the province of Azilal, 150 km north-east of Marrakech, in Morocco.

Ouzoud is the Amazigh word for "olive", referring to the nearby olive trees.

The bottom of the falls is accessible through a shaded path of olive trees. At the summit of the falls, there exist a dozen of old small mills that are still in use. One can also follow a narrow and difficult track leading to the road of Beni Mellal while descending the gorges from the "wadi el-Abid" by a canyon sometimes which one does not distinguish the bottom with nearly 600 metres.

It is the most visited site of the region. In the vicinity, Green valleys, mills, orchards and a superb circuit of the gorges of the El Abid River (in Arabic, "Slaves' River" ), are found. Many local and national associations lead projects to protect and preserve the site.

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Rabat

Rabat

Rabat (Arabic الرباط; Amazigh ⵕⴱⴰⵟ, transliterated ar-Rabāṭ or ar-Ribāṭ or (Er-)Rbāṭ, literally "Fortified Place"; French Ville de Rabat; Spanish Ciudad de Rabat), is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000 (2010). It is also the capital of the Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer region.

Rabat on Video HD

The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg. On the facing shore of the river lies Salé, the city's main commuter town. Together with Temara the cities account for a combined metropolitan population of 1.8 million. Silting problems have diminished the Rabat's role as a port; however, Rabat and Salé still maintain important textile, food processing and construction industries. In addition, tourism and the presence of all foreign embassies in Morocco serve to make Rabat one of the most important cities in the country.

Rabat is accessible by train through the ONCF system and by plane through the nearby Rabat-Salé Airport.

Rabat in the 50s in video:

More photos of Rabat:

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Fes

Fes - Fez

Fes or Fez (Arabic: فاس‎ Arabic pronunciation: [fɛs]) is the second largest city of Morocco, with a population of approximately 1 million (2010). It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region.

Fas el Bali is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its medina, the larger of the two medinas of Fes, is believed to be the world's largest contiguous car-free urban area. Al-Qarawiyyin, founded in AD 859, is the oldest continuously functioning madrasa (university) in the world. The city has been called the "Mecca of the West" and the "Athens of Africa".

Fes in the 50s in Video:

Fes is one of the imperial cities in Morocco, It was the capital of Morocco many times throughout history.. also known as the house of  manufacturing location for leather goods.

Some researches refer to the city of fes as the religious capital of Morocco, visitors and tourists can actually sense the strong presence of Mosques in the city. Also because Al-Qarawiyyin is one of the famous Islamic universities in the world.

In the past few years, Fes has become one of the popular tourist destinations in Morocco, especially tourists that are interested in imperial cities and historical places. That's what pushed many non-Moroccans to restore traditional riads (old houses) and transform them into second houses or small hostels in the Fez medina.

One more event that the city of Fes is famous for is the sacred music festival. Founded back in 1994 and held every year for a whole week, the music festival of Fes has been visited by millions and been animated by many famous artist from all over the world.

Fes has its own international Airport "Fes-Saiss", 15km to the south with over 500000 passenger every year.

If you are interested in starting your tour from Fes contact us through our contat page

We offer Morocco tours and excursions from Marrakech, Fes, Casablanca, and Agadir. We will be glad to organize your morocco tour with you.

More Photos of Fes:

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Meknes

Meknes

Meknes (Arabic: مكناس‎, Amazigh: ⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ Mknas or Ameknas, French: Meknès, Spanish: Mequinez) is a city in northern Morocco, 130 kilometres (81 mi) from the capital Rabat and 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Fes. It is served by the A2 expressway between those two cities and by the corresponding railway. Meknes was the capital of Morocco under the reign of Moulay Ismail (1672–1727), before it was relocated to Marrakech. The population is 985,000 (2010 census). It is the capital of the Meknes-Tafilalet region. Meknes is named after a Berber tribe which was known as Miknasa (native Berber name: Imeknasen) in the medieval North African sources.

Meknes in the 50s:

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Casablanca

Casablanca

Casablanca (Arabic: الدار البيضاء ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʼ, original name in Berber: ⴰⵏⴼⴰ Anfa) is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.

Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb region. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture of Casablanca and 3,631,061 in the region of Grand Casablanca. Casablanca is considered the economic and business center of Morocco, while the political capital city of Morocco is Rabat.

Casablanca hosts headquarters and main industrial facilities for the leading Moroccan and international companies based in Morocco. Industrial statistics show Casablanca retains its historical position as the main industrial zone of the country. The Port of Casablanca is one of the largest artificial ports in the world, and the largest port of North Africa. It is also the primary naval base for the Royal Moroccan Navy.

Casablanca in video:

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Morocco: History (part 2)

Morocco: History (part 2)

Part one here

booking a tour or an excursion around the imperial cities and historical sights of morocco can't be done without knowing a little about the history, in those two parts you will find a short description about moroccan history and you get an idea about the cultural diversity.

Roman, and sub-Roman Morocco

Initially the Berber kings ruled overshadowing Carthage and Rome, often as satellites, allowing Roman rulership to exist.

Roman coins excavated in Essaouira, 3rd century.

But after the fall of Carthage, the area was annexed to the Roman Empire in AD 40. Rome controlled the vast, ill-defined territory through alliances with the tribes rather than through military occupation, expanding its authority only to those areas that were economically useful or that could be defended without additional manpower. Hence, Roman administration never extended outside the restricted area of the northern coastal plain and valleys. This strategic region formed part of the Roman Empire, governed as Mauretania Tingitana.

Roman historians (like Ptolemeus) considered that all actual Morocco until the Atlas mountains was part of the Roman Empire. During the time of Augustus, Mauretania was a vassal state and his rulers (like Juba II) controlled all the areas south of Volubilis. But the effective control of Roman legionaries was until the area of Sala Colonia (the castra "Exploratio Ad Mercurios" south of Sala is the southernmost discovered until now). Some historians believe the Roman frontier reached actual Casablanca, founded by Romans as a port.

During the reign of Juba II Emperor Augustus (who created in the area of what is now northern Morocco 12 colonies with retired Roman legionaries) had already founded three colonias, with Roman citizens, in Mauretania close to the Atlantic coast: Iulia Constantia Zilil, Iulia Valentia Banasa and Iulia Campestris Babba.

This western part of Mauretania was to become the province called Mauretania Tingitana shortly afterwards. The capital was the rich emporium of Volubilis.

In those centuries, the area controlled by Rome had great economic development. Helped by the construction of Roman roads. The area was initially fully under control of Rome and only in the mid-2nd century was built a limes south of Sala and until Volubilis.

Roman control reached the area of Casablanca, then called Anfa according to Leo Africanus: it was used as a port by the Phoenicians and later the Romans.

In his book "Wasf Afriquia" Hassan Al Wazan (nicknamed Leo Africanus) refers to "Anfa" (ancient Casablanca) as a great city which was founded by the Romans. He also believed that Anfa was the most prosperous city on the Atlantic coast because of its fertile land.

Around 278 AD Romans moved their regional capital to Tanger and Volubilis started to lose importance.

The region remained a part of the Roman Empire until 429 AD as the Vandals overran the area and Roman administrative presence came to an end.

Indeed in the 5th century, the region fell to the Vandals, Visigoths, before being recovered by the Romans in rapid succession. During this time, however, the high mountains of most of modern Morocco remained unsubdued, and stayed in the hands of their Berber inhabitants.

Christianity was introduced in the 2nd century and gained converts in the towns and among slaves and Berber farmers. By the end of the 4th century, the Romanized areas had been Christianized, and inroads had been made as well among the Berber tribes, who sometimes converted en masse. But schismatic and heretical movements also developed, usually as forms of political protest. The area had a substantial Jewish population as well.

The Berber Empires

Morocco reached its height under a series of Berber dynasties, that arose south of the Atlas Mountains and expanded their rule northwards, replacing the local rulers. The 11th and 12th centuries witnessed the founding of several great Berber dynasties led by religious reformers and each based on a tribal confederation that dominated the Maghrib (also seen as Maghreb; refers to North Africa west of Egypt) and Al-Andalus for more than 200 years. The Berber dynasties (Almoravids, Almohads, Marinids and Wattasids) gave the Berber people some measure of collective identity and political unity under a native regime for the first time in their history, and they created the idea of an "imperial Maghrib" under Berber aegis that survived in some form from dynasty to dynasty. But ultimately each of the Berber dynasties proved to be a political failure because none managed to create an integrated society out of a social landscape dominated by tribes that prized their autonomy and individual identity.

In 1559, the region fell to successive Arab tribes claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad: first the Saadi Dynasty who ruled from 1554 to 1659 and then the Alaouites, who founded a dynasty that has remained in power since the 17th century.

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Morocco: History (part 1)

Morocco: History (part one)

If you are interested in tours and excurions around imperial cities and historical places you may also be interested in knowing a little bit about the history of morocco

Prehistoric Morocco
In 1971 the fossilised bones of a 400,000 year old early human ancestor was discovered at Sale. In 1991 the bones of several very early Homo sapiens were discovered at Jebel Irhoud that are at least 160,000 years old[1]. In 2007 small perforated sea shell beads were discovered in Taforalt that are 82,000 years old, which makes them the earliest evidence of personal adornment yet found anywhere in the world.

The Capsian culture brought Morocco into the Neolithic about 2001 BC, at a time when the Maghreb was less arid than it is today. The Berber language probably was formed at roughly the same time as agriculture, and was developed by the existing population and adopted the immigrants who arrived later. Modern DNA analysis has confirmed that various populations have contributed to the present-day gene pool of Morocco in addition to the main ethnic group which is the Amazighs/Berbers. A very small percentage of those other populations are Iberians and sub-Saharan Africans.

In Mesolithic ages the geography of Morocco resembled a savanna more than the present day arid landscape. While little is known about Morocco settlement in these early times, excavations elsewhere in the Maghreb suggest an abundance of game and forests that would have been hospitable to Mesolithic hunters and gatherers.

The coastal regions of present-day Morocco shared in an early Neolithic culture that was common to the whole Mediterranean littoral. Archaeological remains point to the domestication of cattle and the cultivation of crops in the region during that period. Eight thousand years ago, south of the great mountain ranges in what is now the Sahara Desert, a vast savanna supported Neolithic hunters and herders whose culture flourished until the region began to desiccate as a result of climatic changes after 4000 BC.

Phoenicians on the coast
Phoenician traders, who had penetrated the western Mediterranean before the 12th century BC, set up depots for salt and ore along the coast and up the rivers of the territory that is now Morocco. The arrival of Phoenicians heralded many centuries of rule by foreign powers for the north of Morocco. Major early substantial settlements of the Phoenicians were at Chellah, Lixus and Mogador, with Mogador being a Phoenician colony as early as the early 6th century BC. Carthage developed commercial relations with the Berber tribes of the interior and paid them an annual tribute to ensure their cooperation in the exploitation of raw materials.

By the 5th century BC, Carthage had extended its hegemony across much of North Africa. By the 2nd century BC, several large, although loosely administered, Berber kingdoms had emerged.

Read Part two here

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Morocco: Food

Morocco: Food

Morocco, unlike most other African countries, produces all the food it needs to feed its people. Its many home-grown fruits and vegetables include oranges, melons, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, and potatoes.

Five more native products that are especially important in Moroccan cooking are lemons, olives, figs, dates, and almonds. Located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, the country is rich in fish and seafood. Beef is not plentiful, so meals are usually built around lamb or poultry. (Recently, a lot of restaurant started making vegetarian or even vegan meals). Flat, round Moroccan bread is eaten at every meal. The Moroccan national dish is the tajine, a lamb or poultry stew. Other common ingredients may include almonds, hard-boiled eggs, prunes, lemons, tomatoes, and other vegetables. The tajine, like other Moroccan dishes, is known for its distinctive flavoring, which comes from spices including saffron, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, and ground red pepper. The tajine's name is taken from the distinctive earthenware dish with a cone-shaped top in which it is cooked and served. Another Moroccan dietary staple is couscous, made from fine grains of a wheat product called semolina. It is served many different ways, with vegetables, meat, or seafood. Sweets play a very important role in the Moroccan diet. Every household has a supply of homemade sweet desserts made from almonds, honey, and other ingredients. Mint tea is served with every meal in Morocco. It is sweetened while it is still in the pot.

A MEALTIME CUSTOMS Moroccans eat their meals at low round tables, sitting on cushions on the floor. They eat with their hands instead of silverware, using the thumb and first two fingers of their right hands. They also use pieces of bread to soak up sauces and carry food to the mouth. Small warmed, damp towels are passed around before the meal to make sure everyone's hands are clean. Most meals consist of a single main dish, often a stew, a couscous dish, or a hearty soup. It is served with bread, salad, cold vegetables, and couscous or rice on the side. A typical breakfast might include beyssara (dried fava beans stewed with cumin and paprika), beghrir (pancakes), and bread. Two breakfast favorites that may sound exotic to Westerners are lambs' heads and calves' feet .

Although Moroccans love sweets, they are usually saved for special occasions. With everyday meals, the most common dessert is fresh fruit. The sweetened mint tea that comes with every meal is served a special way. It is brewed in a silver teapot and served in small glasses. When the tea is poured, the pot is held high above the glasses to let air mix with the tea. Tea is served not only at home but also in public places. In stores, merchants often offer tea to their customers. Morocco is famous for the wide range of delicious foods sold by its many street vendors. These include soup, shish kebab, roasted chickpeas, and salads. Both full meals and light snacks are sold. A favorite purchase is sugared doughnuts tied together on a string to carry home.

Examples of Traditional Dishes :

Tajin : Moroccan tajines often combine lamb or chicken with a medley of ingredients or seasonings: olives, quinces apples, pears, apricots, raisins, prunes, dates, nuts, with fresh or preserved lemons, with or without honey, with or without a complexity of spices. Traditional spices that are used to flavour tajines include ground cinnamon, saffron, ginger, turmeric, cumin, paprika, pepper, as well as the famous spice blend ras el hanout. Turkey meat is also sometimes used.Some famous tajine dishes are mqualli or mshermel (both are pairings of chicken, olives and citrus fruits, though preparation methods differ), kefta (meatballs in an egg and tomato sauce), and mrouzia (lamb, raisins and almonds). Other ingredients for a tajine may include any product that braises well: fish, quail,pigeon, beef, root vegetables, legumes, even amber and agarwood.Modern recipes in the West include pot roasts, ossobuco, lamb shanks and turkey legs. Seasonings can be traditional Moroccan spices, French, Italian or suited to the dish.

Couscous: This famous Moroccan dish features a mound of steamed couscous topped by stewed vegetables and meat. Very delicious! The couscous itself is actually a diminutive form of pasta, traditionally shaped by hand-rolling semolina flour with water until the requisite balls begin to distinguish themselves from the finer semolina. The newly-shaped couscous is then passed through a sieve to separate larger balls from smaller ones, or to give consistent size to the couscous taking shape. Rather than hand-rolling, many Moroccan cooks now buy their couscous in a dry form. Both freshly rolled couscous and dry couscous are cooked by steaming the couscous several times in a couscoussier. This allows each couscous grain to become plump and tender without clumping to each other. Instant couscous, widely available in Western supermarkets, is reconstituted by the simple addition of hot broth or liquid. Instant couscous is not regarded very highly by Moroccans and should not be confused with the dry couscous which must be steamed.

Serving the Couscous and Vegetables: Empty the couscous into the large bowl, and break it apart. Mix in the 2 tablespoons of butter with 2 ladles of sauce. To serve the couscous, shape it into a mound with a well in the center. Put the meat into the well, and arrange the vegetables on top and all around. Distribute the sauce evenly over the couscous and vegetables, reserving one or two bowlfuls to offer on the side for those who prefer more sauce.

Harira(Soup) : Harira is the traditional Berber soup of Morocco. It is usually eaten during dinner in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to break the fasting day. It is considered as a meal in itself. It is also served to relatives and friends after a special celebration, such as the morning after a wedding night, and its recipe varies then slightly from the harira eaten during Ramadan. Of course, it could be prepared any time, however, some families prefer to stick to tradition and serve it on special occasions. It is usually served with hard-boiled eggs sprinkled with salt and cumin, dates and other favorite dried fruits like figs, traditional honey sweets and other goodies (special bread or crepes) prepared at home.

Procedure : 1. In a large saucepan, heat half the oil. Add the onion and cook 10 minutes, until soft. 2. Add the garlic, turmeric, ginger, and cumin and cook a few more minutes. 3. Stir in the stock and add the lentils and tomatoes. 4. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until the lentils are soft. 5. Stir in the chickpeas, remaining olive oil, cilantro, parsley, salt, pepper and lemon juice (if using), and simmer 5 more minutes.

Salads : Green salad: The "green salad" or "garden salad" is most often composed of leafy vegetables such as lettuce varieties, spinach, or rocket (arugula). Due to their low caloric density, green salads are a common diet food. The salad leaves may be cut or torn into bite-sized fragments and tossed together (called a tossed salad), or may be placed in a predetermined arrangement (a composed salad).

Vegetable salad : Vegetables other than greens may be used in a salad. Common vegetables used in a salad include cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, spring onions, red onions, avocado, carrots, celery, and radishes. Other ingredients, such as olives, hard boiled egg, artichoke hearts, heart of palm, roasted red bell peppers, green beans, croutons, cheeses, meat (e.g. bacon, chicken), or seafood (e.g. tuna, shrimp), are sometimes added to salads.

Mint Tea: The most popular drink is green tea with mint. Traditionally, making good mint tea in Morocco is considered an art form and the drinking of it with friends and family is often a daily tradition. The pouring technique is as crucial as the quality of the tea itself. Moroccan tea pots have long, curved pouring spouts and this allows the tea to be poured evenly into tiny glasses from a height. For the best taste, glasses are filled in two stages. The Moroccans traditionally like tea with bubbles, so while pouring they hold the teapot high above the glasses. Finally, the tea is accompanied with hard sugar cones or lumps.

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Morocco: Origins

Morocco: Origins

“Morocco” in its various European forms is derived from the city of Marrakesh, which was built in the early eleventh century. The oldest surviving mention of it comes in an Italian document dated 1138.

“Marrakesh” is still used occasionally today, in informal Arabic, for the country as a whole, and Fez (Fas), the other great city, is the name modern Turks give to the state. In Arabic, the modern official language and that of most of its inhabitants, the country is called “Maghrib.” This is a confusing term since it is also used to describe the whole group of countries in north-western Africa (Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia and sometimes Libya). It means “the land of the setting sun,” the furthest westward point of the great Islamic empire founded by the Prophet Muhammad in the middle of the seventh century AD.

“Moors,” a rather outdated word now, and one with a distinct pejorative tinge, was popular in European languages in the late medieval and early modern periods. To eighteenth-century writers the Moors were the urban inhabitants of all north-western Africa, and sometimes all Muslims.

These were the traditional enemies of Christian Europe and, like Shakespeare’s Othello, most Moors were believed to be black. Finally, many inhabitants of Morocco are called “Berbers.” The term is largely a linguistic one, describing people who speak one of several dialects, spread over the whole of northern Africa, notably Morocco (forty per cent of the modern population) and Algeria (twenty per cent), with smaller groups in Tunisia, Libya and western Egypt. The Tuareg nomads of the Sahara also speak a Berber dialect, the one that is least contaminated by Arabic. The name itself is not, of course, a Berber word. It is a Graeco- Roman expression, referring to all those who did not speak Greek or Latin: they were barbari or “barbarians.” Applied to the people of northern Africa, it was popularised by the great fourteenth-century historian Ibn Khaldun. He used it as the title of his History of the Berbers and again in his great Introduction to History (the Muqadimma), which was one of the first attempts to explain the rise and fall of dynasties in theoretical terms.

The Berbers call themselves “Imazighen,” or something similar, depending on the dialect. It means “noble men” or “free men,” in the sense that they were free of external control, unlike the inhabitants of the towns, who belonged to no tribe. Those who could find no protection from kin were at the mercy of the powerful and were truly servile.

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Basic informations about Morocco

 Basic informations about Morocco

Morocco is not only a holiday destination for tours and excursions, apart from being a touristical attraction for its famous sand dunes desert, imperial cities, moutains and beaches, Morocco is also an old country that is very rich and diverse culturally.
So if you have a chance to visit Morocco make sure to have a taste of the real thing. 
Here is a short description so you can have an idea:

Morocco (Arabic: المغرب‎ al-Maghrib ; Amazigh: ⴰⵎⵕⵕⵓⴽ or ⵍⵎⴰⵖⵔⵉⴱ "Ameṛṛuk" or "Lmaɣrib"), officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of over 32 million and an area of 710,850 km² . Despite being situated in Africa, Morocco remains the only African state not to be a member of the African Union due to its unilateral withdrawal on November 12, 1984 over the admission of the so called (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) in 1982 by the African Union as a full member without the organization of a referendum of self determination in the disputed territory of  Sahara.

Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive and legislative powers, including the power to dissolve the parliament. Executive power is exercised by the government but the king's decisions usually overwrite those of the government if there is a contradiction. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Assembly of Representatives and the Assembly of Councillors. The king can also issue decrees called "dahirs" which have the force of law. The latest Parliamentary elections were held on November 25, 2011, and were considered by some neutral observers to be mostly free and fair. Voter turnout in these elections was estimated to be 43% of registered voters, but only about 25% of Moroccan adult citizens actually voted. The rest either chose not to vote or they were not registered as voters, thus not allowed to vote. The political capital of Morocco is Rabat, although the largest city is Casablanca; other major cities include Marrakesh, Tetouan, Tangier, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, and Nador.

Almost all Moroccans speak either Amazigh or Moroccan Arabic as mother tongues. Hassaniya Arabic, sometimes considered as a variety of Moroccan Arabic, is spoken in the southern provinces  in the country by a small population.

source: Wikipedia

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