Day trip from from Tangier to Chefchaouen
Between the arms of the Rif mountain range, on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and close to the Atlantic Ocean, the Moroccan city of “Chefchaouen,” or as its people call it “Chaouen,” stands tall with the magic of its blue color and picturesque nature, creating a picture that the eyes adored, the hearts longed to see, and the emotions were shaken by hearing its name.
The Smell of Cities takes you on its weekly tour of the cities of the Maghreb to the “city of Sayyeda Hurra”, the Moroccan “Chefchaouen”, which is characterized by mountainous features, difficult terrain, sudden slopes, low valleys, and sharp breaks.
A blue color whose secret is not known to many. There are many stories about it, including that when the Jews lived in Chefchaouen after their displacement from Spain as a result of ethnic and religious cleansing against non-Christians, they began to paint their homes blue, and then they continued to paint all of their possessions with this color later, believing that it was the color closest to the color. Heaven and that will remind them of God.
It is also reported that people dyed the city blue as a symbol of peace and tolerance after it embraced the Jews, Andalusians, and Moriscos who were expelled from their homes.