Chefchaouen

Contexto cultural

The blue mountain town was founded in 1471 as a fortress against the Portuguese. In the 1930s Jewish refugees brought the tradition of painting houses blue (some say to keep mosquitoes away, others that blue symbolises the sky and the divine), and since then the whole old town has been painted in shades of blue. The architecture brought by exiles from Spanish Andalusia blends here with Berber mountain culture, and Spanish is still widely spoken.

Costumbres locales

• Life in the mountain town is slow
• residents like to sit in the sun and chat on the blue steps
• goat's cheese is a local speciality.

Religión y creencias

• Residents are mainly Muslim, with traces of Jewish history
• the octagonal minaret of the old-town mosque is in a distinctive Andalusian style.

Normas que se aplican aquí

Consejos de viaje

• The town is all slopes and stone steps, so wear comfortable shoes. Early morning has fewer people and good light, ideal for empty-street shots
• the hill of the Spanish Mosque is the sunset spot for a view over the whole town. The cafés on the main square, Plaza Uta el-Hammam, are perfect for idling away an afternoon
• it's about 4 hours by bus from Fez.