The Blue City Lives Up to its Name

Chefchaouen or Chaouen is a city to the north of Tangier that was founded in the late 1400s as a military outpost. This time period coincided with the Spanish Reconquista of Granada and thus the population grew with Muslims and Jews fleeing Spain. The Andalusian refugees brought with them their architectural style and culture, thus why the city bares a strong resemblance to The White City, aka Granada. The difference is in Chefchaouen, the homes are painted a combination of white and a particular shade of blue. Today, the city is affectionately known as “the Blue Pearl” of Morocco or just “The Blue City”.

When I asked the locals what the blue represented, I was told two things: (1) the Jews painted it that color and (2) that shade of blue deters mosquitoes. I’m not sure what part of Jewish culture the blue represents, but it’s cool to see that their influence into architectural design 700 years ago has persisted unto modern times. I also haven’t been bitten by any mosquitoes yet, so maybe the blue does in fact keep them away (or it could be the June heat).

Em and I arrived by bus in the late morning and trudged the mile uphill to the Medina and our accommodation for the evening. We’re staying at a super cute Riad, in the Medina, where all the walls are painted the traditional blue. Riads are traditional style homes with multiple stories, that all surround an open air courtyard containing a fountain. Each of the four sides of the upper levels will contain rooms. Many Riads have pools in the courtyard, but unfortunately, not our current one. In bygones days, the riads were the homes of the more affluent denizens of Morocco.

We stayed at the riad long enough to drop our bags, drinks some strong espresso, and get a quick lay of the land via the host, then it was time to get the most out of our one day in town. The old town of Chefchaouen isn’t that large and easily walkable, but it’s not for the faint-hearted, especially in summer. It was definitely on the warm side (although much better than it’ll be in another month) and the entire Medina is built on the slopes of a mountain, so there are lots and lots and lots….and lots of stairs. If you don’t have a heart attack, you’ll have some nice calf muscles at the end of your stay. 

While there are many stairs, the stairways and alleys that lead off of them, are well worth the exercise. The blue paint comes in a few different hues that offset each other, especially when mixed with the white of the unpainted walls. Some residents have figured out how to turn a good profit by charging a few dirham for tourists to take pictures of their supped up stairwells. These residents add nice touches with local hats, paintings, flowers, etc. If you don’t want to pay, there are plenty of picturesque locations if you just walk a bit. 

Em and I thought we were going to have to fight off hordes of people to get some nice photographs, but it turns out we’re about a month before the tourists season really begins, and thus, there aren’t that many others wandering the same streets. The city has a nice sleepy and calm vibe to it at present.

The best view of the city can be had from the Spanish Mosque, which sits derelict on a hill across from the Medina and is said to offer the most spectacular views at sunset. The mosque was built for the local populace in the 1920s, but no one really liked it and so it sits abandoned. Now it marks the lovely ending point of a 30 minute jaunt. We made it there, but much earlier than dusk. We started out from our hostel and slowly and steadily made our way from the main square and the Kasbah (Royal enclave) to the top of the fortress wall and then back down along the wall’s outer perimeter to the eastern gate, where we came to the inclined path that led to the Mosque. This by no means was the most direct route, nor the path of least resistance, but we got to see a large portion of the city and two different vantage points during our trek, as well as get to know some of the local shop keepers.

In true, twin travel style, we were engaged in conversation by many of the shop keepers, which led to not wanting to be rude, which led to offers to come have some tea, chat a bit, and look at some wares we weren’t interested in buying (though I do have to admit that some of the rugs are beautiful and I wouldn’t mind owning them if I had any place to put them). We also chatted up a local crepe seller while enjoying a tasty afternoon snack and scored some more tea while testing out the 10 or so Arabic words I know. All in all is was a pretty good way to spend our day.