Morocco’s famous blue city, Chefchaouen, nicknamed the “blue pearl of Morocco.” Before ever visiting Morocco I was very curious about those gorgeous blue alleyways and blue-washed buildings. But I also always wondered about the blue city in Morocco – is it really so blue? Does the whole city look like that, or just a few streets? I was so blown away by this beautiful very, very blue city!!!!
The city was founded in 1471 as a small kasbah (fortress) by Moulay Ali ibn Rashid al-Alami, a descendant of Abd as-Salam al-Alami and Idris I, and through them, of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Al-Alami founded the city to fight the Portuguese invasions of northern Morocco. Along with the Ghomara tribes of the region, many Moriscos and Jews settled here after the Spanish Reconquista in medieval times. In 1920, the Spanish seized Chaouen to form part of Spanish Morocco. Spanish troops imprisoned Abd el-Krim el-Khattabi in the kasbah from 1916 to 1917, after he talked with the German consul Dr. Walter Zechlin (1879–1962).
In September 1925, in the middle of the Rif War, a rogue squadron of American volunteer pilots, including veterans of World War I, bombarded civilians in Chaouen. Colonel Charles Michael Sweeney had proposed the idea to French Prime Minister Paul Painlevé, who “warmly welcomed the Colonel’s request.”
After al-Khattabi was defeated with the help of the French, he was deported to Réunion in 1926. Spain returned the city after the independence of Morocco in 1956.
I heard a lot of different (some quite unbelievable) theories about why Chefchaouen is blue. Some say it was painted blue by the Jews who settled there after fleeing Hitler, others say it’s to keep the mosquitos away, while some just said it represents the color of the sea. the surrounding landscape is just amazing.
I’m not sure which version is true, but it seems to have worked out well for Chefchaouen, as it sure looks good in blue!
